Bundeswehr Can’t Take Part in NATO Tasks Due to Lack of Equipment, Budget

The Bundeswehr, the unified armed forces of Germany, is incapable of effectively participating in NATO tasks due to being ill-equipped, Hans-Peter Bartels, a member of the Bundestag, told Die Welt in an interview.

To participate in NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) drills in Poland, Germany had to scrape much of its arms and equipment "from all around the Bundeswehr," Bartels said.

That's why Germany should significantly increase its military spending, Bartels argued.

"Dramatic changes in the field of security require drastic changes," Bartels said, according to Die Welt.

"A tank battalion without tanks is not a tank battalion. We must be 100-percent equipped with our main armored vehicles — Leopard II tanks, armored vehicles Puma and Boxer II."

To completely equip the army, Germany needs to significantly increase its defense budget. NATO requires all its members to spend 2 percent of their GDP for military purposes, but Germany spent only 1.16 percent in 2015 and 1.15 percent in 2016, the Bundestag member said.