“We don’t have any equipment shortages with the leopards,” Pistorius continued. “We had a backlog of maintenance and repairs,” admitted the minister, but “it will now be resolved.” The Bundeswehr was always able to provide the necessary equipment for the NATO intervention force.
In 2023, Germany will provide the core of the NATO spearhead VJTF with around 8,000 soldiers. The ZDF magazine “frontal” reported massive problems with new Leopard 2 main battle tanks on Monday evening. Therefore, the Bundeswehr can only fulfill its NATO obligations with difficulty, if at all.
According to the report, the Bundeswehr’s 393rd tank battalion, which has the most modern Leopard 2 A7V type, should have 30 of its 44 main battle tanks ready for NATO. In January, however, only 17 of the tanks were operational, in February 20.
The situation for the coming months looks similarly bleak, it said. Although tanks from other formations should close the gap, this is not a reliable solution. The main reason given was maintenance problems.
