"East German Regular army 1985 equipment question" Topic

I have been churning out a large number of Soviet 3mm figures lately and I am going to add some East Germans in support shortly. For my 1985 scenario I am trying to figure out what to buy. There are variety of sources with different views on what the East Germans would have as far as equipment.

For my tank division I was thinking T-72s although I have also heard that T-62 and T55 tanks are a possibility too. Does this sound right?

For the MSDs, would BMP-1 and BTR-60PB be appropriate? Or would they have to go with older equipment?

Also, would a majority of the artillery be towed? I have read that SP artillery was chronically in short supply.

Thanks

T55 will show up pretty much anywhere Warpac forces show up.

"Weapons and tactics of the soviet army" (Isby) mentions Polish-built T55 in East German service.

It doesn't mention T62 but not sure if that's an omission or not. They were exported widely, so would be surprised if they weren't available at all.

I was in West Germany as a tanker in the US Army in 1985. The second echelon units, East Germans, Polish, etc., we were told to expect, if we defeated the first echelon and were still around that long, would be anything from T-72 all the way down to T-54/55 tanks.

I am by no means an expert but the majority of East German T-72 were in their 9th panzer division. The vast majority of their armor would have been t-54/55's.

There were some T-62 but from what I have read never in very large numbers. As for their panzer grenadier regiment wheeled regiments used BTR-60's as the most common wheeled vehicle. Their were also some BTR-70's but it appears not many.

Tracked panzer grenadier regiment seemed to start with BTR-50's but they progressed to BMP-1's and towards the end of the Cold War had some 2's.

Hope this helps.

I was under the impression that the T-62 was not in E.German service, and that much of the WarPact specifically rejected it because it was more expensive than the T-55 while not being much more capable. ISTR the E.Germans transitioned from the T-55 directly to the T-72. Even then there were never enough T-72s to equip all units…

Damon.

I could be wrong on the T62…. I thought I had seen something about them on the Battlefront ORBATS

T-55 and T-72 with BTR 60 and 70 and BMP series. At least one Unit in East Berlin had BTR-70, but they may have been border guards. Barin may be along, he has a great deal of useful knowledge, his father commanded an NVA unit,

Tally Ho!

That's Flecktarn I think you'll find, Nick.

My blog has loads on East Germany. Go to the labels section on the right side and click on "East German".

verytinywars.blogspot.com

For 1985, easy on the T-72's, heavy on the T-55's. East Germany never purchased any T-62's.

History…. I did look at your blog too…. wasn't sure how to compare since I was reading about your reserve division.

Indeed Flecktarn!

Tally Ho!

Creative, use the label function. Go back further. I've done lots on East Germany over the last year or so. There are 34 entries under "East German":
link
Alternatively, drop me an email and I'll help as much as I can with any specific questions. frnqtr at yahoo dot com

There were no T62s in NVA service. In 1985 each motorisierte Schützendivision was equipped with T55s with still some T54s, 7.Panzerdivision had mostly T55s with a minority of T72s being introduced during the 1980s and 9.Panzerdivision was fully equipped with T72s by about 1985.

By 1985 a motorisierte Schützendivision would mainly have a mixture of BMP1s, BTR60s and BTR70s. Most of the BTR152s had gone by 1985.

Nearly all the artillery was towed.

Jurgen

One does wonder what use they would have been in combat against MBT's like the M1, Leo II/A4 and Challenger/Chieftain?

I remember the West German tank crews referred to T-54/55's as "lunch".

Milites – Not much, as you'd expect from a post WW2 vehicle. Though some/many were upgraded over their lifespans to fit laser sights and other trinkets, I imagine their usefulness would have been rather limited.

Of course, a battalion of them crashing into an infantry battalion might still make for a bad day. If you have no tank of your own, any tank is a good tank :-)

Yes, the tank battalions in the MR regiment were intended for infantry support and the tank/panzer divisions for operational exploitation. Dedicated AT work was the job of the regimental and divisional anti-tank blocking detachments, although clearly if tank units encountered hostile tanks they'd take them on. Warpac units aimed to find the gaps between NATO ones, not assault them frontally unless absolutely necessary, and up to the late 1970s, they'd try and create gaps if they didn't exist already using nuclear weapons.

Not much fun taking on an M1 or Chally (or even a Chieftan) in a T-55, however there really weren't large holdings of supertanks until the very, very end of the Cold War. The bulk of US tanks were M60s, and any sort of tank at all is a much better place to be when driving through the beaten zone of nuclear preparatory fires.

The shiny new toys got their real major outing in GW1.

In 2003 reporting indicated a large force of T-55 heading south out of Basrah towards 3 Cdo Bde coming up the Al-Faw. We (7 Armd Bde) loaned them a Sqn (-) of CII from the SDG and what followed was the last "Tank Battle" in the history of the British Army (so far!)

The CII won 14-0, the T-55s did not get a shot off,

Tally Ho!

This is pretty good…

YouTube link

Armand