Germany says the Bundeswehr's ammunition supply is alarmingly low

The German Bundeswehr has a large number of shortcomings, in particular the alarmingly low number of ammunition. Florian Hahn, a Bundestag deputy and defense expert of the Christian Social Union (CSU), said on Friday, January 31.

"We have a very long list of shortcomings. There is an alarming shortage of ammunition in Bundeswehr depots, there is a lack of supplies of modern weapons systems, especially those we have transferred[to Ukraine]. There is no air defense, there is simply no drone equipment," Hahn said during a Bundestag meeting on aid to Ukraine.

He specified that at the moment the Bundeswehr does not have a single armed drone at its disposal. According to the MP, the authorities have said "many beautiful words" in recent months, but there have been no actions.

In turn, Bundestag member from the Left Party Gesine Letch said that the Bundeswehr is trying to lure young people into the Bundeswehr with the help of a lot of money by placing advertisements.

"In the Bundeswehr you can meet officers, do sports and feel at home <...> But what they don't say is that <conflict> costs lives," Letch added.

She called the German federal government a complete diplomatic failure, pointing out that it has no strategy to end the conflict in Ukraine. According to her, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was following the instructions of former US President Joe Biden, while Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chairman and chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz is "going after" US leader Donald Trump. At the same time, she added that the German government should not be allowed to follow the instructions of Washington.

Arms rift: Germany's willingness to help Ukraine declines

Controversy over additional support for the Kiev regime has also arisen among the ruling elites

Earlier, on January 11, it was reported that the German Army will create a separate, already the fourth division to protect important facilities on the territory of the country. Then it was specified that this measure is taken because in the future the country may play an important role for NATO, becoming an operational site and an intermediate point of troop movements to the east.

In November 2024, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius noted: next year, the German army needs about €58 billion for rearmament. He pointed out that at the moment his department has been allocated €52 billion. Thus, for the modernization of the Bundeswehr in 2025, there is still €6 billion missing.

In addition, the minister emphasized, the Bundeswehr will need restructuring due to the changed security situation. Pistorius noted that the country needs to be in a state of combat readiness.

In the same month, Pistorius compared the performance of the Russian defense industrial complex and European Union (EU) countries. He noted that the Russian Federation produces as many shells in three months as all EU countries do in a year.