Germany Establishes the Most Formidable NATO Division

Berlin plans to create the most well-equipped military division among European NATO allies by 2025.

This announcement was made by the Chief of the German Army, Alfonso Maiz, in an interview with Reuters.

Currently, the Bundeswehr does not have any operational divisions with over 20,000 military personnel. However, ambitious plans are in place to establish the first of three such divisions by 2025, followed by the second in 2027.

During the Reuters interview, Maiz expressed his "highly optimistic" stance on these plans, stating that the division's formation has already been coordinated with other members of the North Atlantic Alliance. According to Maiz, initially, the division will be staffed at approximately 80-90% of its intended capacity.

The Lieutenant General mentioned that Germany intends to equip two mechanized brigades and later a light-armored, medium-sized brigade in collaboration with Dutch forces. The brigade is expected to consist of around 5,000 military personnel.

"In any case, this will be adequate to possess the best-equipped division among all European NATO partners by 2025. At least, that is our shared objective with our Dutch counterparts," emphasized Maiz.

Western nations have begun reevaluating their approaches to bolstering their armed forces following Russia's unwarranted and brutal invasion of sovereign Ukraine in February 2022.

Simultaneously, alongside strengthening their own armed forces, Western partners continue to provide military support to Ukraine in its struggle against the Russian Federation. Recently, the Bundeswehr placed a new order with the German conglomerate Rheinmetall for the production of a significant quantity of 120mm multi-purpose tank ammunition, a substantial portion of which will be sent to Ukraine. As a result, the German Armed Forces expanded an existing agreement with the military giant to a value of approximately 4 billion euros.

Furthermore, the Council of the European Union, in agreement with the European Parliament, has approved the Act on Support to Ammunition Production (ASAP) – a document that will help allocate an additional €500 million from the EU budget to expand the production capacity of artillery shells, missiles, and ground-to-ground ammunition.