German Military Assets

I've essayed recently over the continuing woes of the Bundeswehr, and in this piece.....I'll discuss the hardware situation:

The Navy:

- There are six subs of the 212-variety in the inventory, with two more planned for 2030 (I might question if these will be purchased). 

- There are ten total frigates in the inventory, of which four are anti-sub warfare types.

- There are five Corvettes in service, with five more planned for 2023.

- There are twelve coastal type vessels for anti-mine warfare.

- There are 29 vessels that you'd consider for general purpose, supply vessels, or replenishment.

The Air Force:

- There are 87 Tornados, and 94 Typhoons.

- There are 28 Tornados for electronic-counter-measures.

- There are four Airbus 310's for tanker support, and six other aircraft for the same role on order.

- The workhorse for transport is the C-160 with 29 in the inventory.  There are 35 Airbus A400 jets on order, with roughly twenty on hand currently.  There are three C-130J's on order.

- There are 72 CH-53 helicopters in the inventory.  There are 15 EC-145 light utility helicopters in the inventory.

- There are three Herons in the inventory (SUV).  And an additional four TQ4's on order.

The Army:

- There are 328 Leopard-2 main battle tanks in the inventory.

- There are 327 Marder infantry vehicles in the inventory.....all set for retirement by 2024.  The replacement vehicle?  The Puma (350 on order, with around 200 delivered so far).

- There are 898 Fuchs in the inventory presently as APC vehicles.  Some of these will be retired by the Boxer series (400 on order).

- The Wiesel series is a light (extremely light) anti-tank tracked vehicle....approximately 272 in number.

- The PzH 2000 series is a self-propelled artillery weapon....around 120 in operation.

- The M270 is a US-made rocket launcher, with 38 in operation.

- There are 115 UH-1 US-made helicopters in the inventory.

- There are 47 Tigers attack helicopters in the inventory.

- There are 47 NH-90 transport helicopters in the current inventory, with another 35 on order.

- Then you come to twenty-five-odd truck or support vehicles, which number up to around 5,000 in number.

The primary issue with the German military?  Logistically and in terms of maintenance....they've reached a point (they were already reaching it a decade ago).....where they can't sustain a minimum operational rate.  On any given day, you might have sixty-to-eighty percent of aircraft down for maintenance, or awaiting parts. Different folks have tried to explain this, but you generally come around to a wide variety of assets, a minimum depot of spare parts, and a limited number of repair personnel. 

Germany, at least in my humble opinion.....could easily run their Army and Navy assets, disposing of the Air Force mission, and have enough maintenance capability to be almost trouble-free.  Or they could run the Army and Air Force mission....without the Navy assets, and be trouble-free.

My gut feeling is that the only way ahead is to dispose of one major mission and just admit they aren't in the same league as the UK or France.