| cwlinsj | 10 Apr 2015 3:18 p.m. PST |
Germany takes 100 Leopard II tanks out of mothballs in response to current situation in Europe. link |
| Mako11 | 10 Apr 2015 3:45 p.m. PST |
Might be a good idea. I think I read yesterday that the Dutch sold all theirs to Finland, so perhaps they can kill with kindness……. |
The G Dog  | 10 Apr 2015 5:09 p.m. PST |
Yeah…more German prisoners (150,000) were taken at the end of the Tunisian campaign than are in the entire modern Heer (On 28 February 2015 there were a total of 61,312 soldiers on active service in the German Army). It's that small. |
| Sobieski | 10 Apr 2015 5:31 p.m. PST |
Wonderful. Economic crisis in Europe, uparming, east-west tensions; anyone recognise the pattern? |
| Mako11 | 10 Apr 2015 5:34 p.m. PST |
So, that's like 6,000 men for the front lines, if the usual 10% to 90% tooth to tail ratio applies to their military? Hitler seizes and annexes territory, and Putin does the same. Yes, I do recognize that pattern, Sobieski. |
| LostPict | 10 Apr 2015 7:19 p.m. PST |
What goes around comes around: link Glad the gumint didn't close the tank factory in Lima, yet. |
| goragrad | 10 Apr 2015 11:10 p.m. PST |
Amazing quote in that WaPo article in which it is stated that the Abrams is expected to be replaced in 2040… I presume that means nobody is anticipating any conflicts with developed nations or significant deployment of armor in conflicts. As to Germany, there is a reason why the EU isn't making many waves over events in Eastern Europe… |
| Mako11 | 11 Apr 2015 3:23 a.m. PST |
Nah, it'll be like the B-52, and we'll get 100 years from both, given how we're going now, and since there's little money for replacements. |
| Visceral Impact Studios | 11 Apr 2015 9:34 a.m. PST |
According to the link UK, France, and Germany combined will still spend over 50% more than Russia even after it massively increases its own spending next year. That 50% spending advantage does not include contributions from smaller nations or the gigantic US military… |
| cwlinsj | 11 Apr 2015 9:38 a.m. PST |
How many did they have before the end of the Cold war? It was in the thousands, was it not? West Germany had at one time 4,900 tanks of all designs … and East Germany had 1,600. Would you believe the Netherlands had almost as many tanks back then than in all of W. Europe today? 924 |
| Mako11 | 11 Apr 2015 11:05 a.m. PST |
Perhaps, on the spending side of the ledger, though our military hardware costs a lot more than Russian-built kit too, so we need to. The US is also a bit tied down in other regions, currently. |
 Legion 4  | 11 Apr 2015 4:20 p.m. PST |
Glad to hear the Germans are adding more Panzers to their forces. Certainly with all that is going on it seems to be a good move. Plus this time they are on "Our" side …  |
| Cattle Dog | 11 Apr 2015 9:00 p.m. PST |
Some of our Leopard one ended up out the front of Returned Services Clubs as gate guardians Regards Allan |
| Mako11 | 12 Apr 2015 2:38 p.m. PST |
I think the jury is still out on Angela, Legion. |
| Legion 4 | 12 Apr 2015 4:46 p.m. PST |
We'll have to see … Note that you have the P5 +1 being mentioned frequently. The Permanent 5 Nations on the UN Security Council, etc.. The WINNERS of WWII basically. The US, UK France, Russia China + one loser – Germany … so we'll see … |
