72-CW-1119 BW EUROPE - SHORT BREA

Bundeswehr (German Bundeswehr ) was formed in 1955 and during the Cold War it was the armed force of West Germany (FRG). However, after the fall of communism in the GDR and the demolition of the Berlin Wall, it became the armed force of a reunified Germany. Its land component is, of course, land forces (German Heer). In the course of the Cold War, it was seen as the first army to interact with an anticipated Soviet attack and to bear a heavy burden of counteracting the Soviet invasion. For this reason, it placed great emphasis on the development of armored and mechanized troops. In the early 1970s, the West German Mechanized Infantry Division had three brigades: two mechanized and one armored brigade. In stock, it had, among others, 252 tanks, 190 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), 124 armored personnel carriers and 63 self-propelled howitzers. In total, it numbered about 26,600 people. It is worth adding that at the height of the Cold War, the Bundeswehr numbered approx. 495 thousand. soldiers and 170 thousand. civilian workers. It consisted of 12 divisions divided into 3 general military corps - most of them were mechanized divisions. After 1989, the Bundeswehr underwent numerous reforms aimed at its reduction and the introduction of new equipment into the equipment. For example, in 2011, conscription was abandoned, and in the same year a reform was implemented, which was to reduce the Bundeswehr to 185,000. active service soldiers and 40 thousand. reservists. The formation of mechanized infantry divisions was withdrawn, and the German infantry (excluding parachute and special forces) now serves in motorized infantry battalions (Multinational Brigade) and in armored grenadier brigades (mechanized infantry) in the 1st and 10th Panzer Divisions. It is worth adding that the infantry uses modern Boxer armored personnel carriers (APCs) and Puma IFVs, which replace the Marder IFVs. The basic shooting weapon of the German infantry is the 5.56 mm Heckler und Koch G36 carbine, and the basic manual machine gun - the Heckler und Koch MG4 also the 5.56 mm caliber.