Germany to spend $6.6 bln to fix its army hardware

[BLACKEAGLE]

Germany to spend $6.6 bln to fix its army hardware

The German Defence Ministry said that it plans to invest up to €6 billion over the coming years to improve deficient army equipment (AP Photo)

By Staff writer | AFP
Saturday, 8 August 2015

The German military is to invest billions of euros to fix recurring problems with its aircraft, helicopters and other military equipment, an official said on Friday.

"We will invest up to 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in the next seven to eight years to obtain improvements in these areas," a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.

Der Spiegel news weekly, which first revealed the investment programme, said the army planned 120 measures to boost personnel and stocks of spare parts.

The paper Der Spiegel cited "numerous" defence documents, which confirmed the "hardware problems constraining the capacity" of the Bundeswehr.

It listed radar problems with Eurofighter jets and with winches on board the NH90 transport helicopters that hampered their use in operations.

Only four of military's 39 NH90 helicopters are currently useable, Der Spiegel said.

Germany's military has come in for repeated criticism in recent months over the state of its weaponry.

The G36 assault rifle became the butt of jokes following reports it had trouble firing straight in high temperatures.

The army has since stop using the rifle.

In September, Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen admitted that the army could not currently meet its commitments to NATO in the event of an attack on an alliance member.

She blamed the situation partly on delays in the supply of spare parts for planes and helicopters.

Last Update: Saturday, 8 August 2015 KSA 00:50 - GMT 21:50
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/2015/08/08/Germany-to-spend-6bn-to-fix-its-army-kit.html

 

[crimsonghost747]

Good call. I've been reading about these issues quite a bit and it seems like though they have a lot of nice new toys, half of them are unusable at any given time. So yeah some extra money to fix these issues definitely seems like money well spent.

 

[Corzhens]

Money well spent, huh. Think of what those billions could build in terms of benefits to mankind. A housing facility for the homeless, food production labs for agriculture or maybe funding a research for dreaded diseases like cancer. And that big money is just spent on weaponry that will only be useful when there is a war. In other words, there's not much for those helicopters and guns when there is no war.

 

[vegito12]

The G 36 rifle looks large and also takes time use and could miss the target real easily which can give the enemy the advantage which, is going to cause the defense not to work the way it is meant to save the country. I reckon the money will be well spent and give the army new weapons which Germany needs if the country is invaded, which can be averted by having the latest technology. It will be interesting to see how the next few years go as the new weapons will help the country and the defense will be strengthened, better with the needed money which will benefit the people in the long run.