According to parliamentary and military industry sources cited by the German edition of news website Business Insider (BI), the German Army (Bundeswehr) only has enough ammunition for one or two days of combat.
Berlin, according to BI, is considerably falling short of the NATO need to keep enough supplies on hand to last for at least 30 days of combat. The issue “has been recognized for years,” according to the statement, since military drills have been hampered by inadequate supplies.
After Germany and several other Western nations started delivering guns and ammunition to Ukraine after Russia started its military action in the neighboring country in February, stockpiles were further depleted.
According to the German government, the deliveries comprised 50 bunker-buster missiles, 21.8 million rounds for weapons, and 53,000 rounds for self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.
According to Hans Christoph Atzpodien, CEO of the German Security and Defense Industry Association (BDSV), the issue with the shortfall “will not improve if ammunition is removed from the Bundeswehr stores while comparable orders are not placed on the defense industry at the same time.” According to the outlet’s sources, “no big orders” have been made for defense businesses to create more munitions.
According to Eva Hoegl, the defense commissioner for the German parliament, extra funding of €20 billion ($19.5 billion) is required to restock the inventories.
In response to the war in Ukraine, Germany announced in February the creation of a €100 billion ($97.4 billion) fund to bolster the Bundeswehr.
Early this month, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht visited Odessa, a port city in southern Ukraine. She declared following the visit that Berlin would continue to back Kiev for as long as required.
