Just how strong was the West German Army 1955-1990? G3 rifles, HK21s, Leopards, a whole people drilled for total war on the Fulda Gap...
Not very. But I read something by an NVA officer where he stated East German morale would have petered out very early on and there'd have been enough time caused by this for the allies to rally
>>64174411Pre mid 1960s they didn't have tanks... the Patton was obsolete, the Kanonenjagdpanzer was an emergency tank destroyer barely better than a WWII tank destroyer. Their air force was dysfunctional before the 1980s (see F-104G). There's a reason why they developed the Tornado, Leopard 2 as soon as possible.
>>64174411Why did they feel the need to annotate his skin? Is that part of the camo?
>>64174622Europeans dont operate well without skin
>>64174622>Color [Description] (#code)It seems like a infographic to paint a model.
>>64174622Someone never had model kits as a hobby....
>>64174630too cold outside
>>64174448>Patton was obsolete(perhaps the M47 which Bundeswehr had in the late 1950s but) Not the M48A2GA2
>>64174630Europeans literally have skeletons inside of them. Without skin the skeletons will jump out.
>>64174630They have a thin skin.
>>64174425Meanwhile in the 60s the West Germans were the western army most interested in invading the East and reclaiming lost land.By the 80s that interest had died down.
>>64174411Through the 60s and 70s they were broadly one of the best NATO armies until the US got it's shit together post-Vietnam. The senior officers and enlisted were frequently combat veterans of WWII, which for them was an extremely darwinian experience. Quantity, quality, funding, motivation - in terms of societal advantages the Heer had it all. To add a personal anecdote, both of my grandfathers served in West Germany and held high opinions of their hosts' soldiering ability when conversing with me decades later.
>>64175519God that's fucking spooky. Thank God we don't have skeletons inside us, that's 2spooky4me
>>64174411>G3German service rifles are sexy. I don't like the new one.
>>64176274It's happening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_Army
>>64175308>M48A2GA2What it does better compared to leopard?
>>64176954Armor capable enough to possibly tank a shot fired by soviet medium and heavy tanks
>>64176954>What it does better compared to leopard?Stand up to firepower greater than a 20mm
>>64175308>M48A2GA2>early 1980>Using the obsolete parts of the original L1 (not the A5)Did I stutter?
>>64177391At least it doesn't get penetrated simply by looking at it wrong.
>>64177506>any impact after 1949 would penetrate it>Implying that the L1 would be hitNot having reverse is such a tragedy.
>>64177516The Leopard is a boxer that can't take a punch
Reminder this is the new head of the Heer
>>64176954Heavier armor. Leopard was a light tank with a marketing label to make it look on-par with other tanks of the time.
>>64174622it's telling you what paint to use
>>64177531Freuding has the classic Prussian Junker skin-stretched-on-skull visage. I trust him
>>64176274This shit keeps me awake at night.
>>64174411>European Skinnot according to Battlefield 1
>>64178811Kek
>>64176386It's a cool rifle but it was meant for conscripts that had a 15 minute life expectancy on the European battlefield, in the event of WWIII.
My father was in the Bundeswehr in the 70s and says his most poignant memory was an officer telling them in case of war they would be expected to just hold the Russians down as long as it took for the Americans to nuke Germany and kill all of them.
>>64174411Imagine calling for close air support
>>64177997>Freuding has the classic Prussian Junker skin-stretched-on-skull visage. I trust himHis natural calling is fighting slavs in the east.
>>64180013That's the war plan for literally every one of our "allies", wait for daddy America to save youNot new information
>>64176056This doesn't really match what I've read. Sure, the Bundeswehr could make use of some Nazi military elites, but there was a 10 year gap in which Germany essentially had no army at all. The entire organization had to be built more or less from zero and while people wanted a good army, it was mostly about speed and getting people into uniforms to achieve political influence within NATO. There were a lot of teething pains, large parts of the NCO corps were clearly not fit for purpose and the early history of the Bundeswehr is full of large-scale procurement disasters (such as the HS.30 IFV and the Starfighter retardation).In the 1960ies the role of the Bundeswehr within the state was still strongly debated. Should the focus be on maximum combat performance or on creating a force of responsible citizens in uniform to protect democracy, even if that means a conventionally "weaker" army? This was huge debate and coincided with the general 1960ies intelligentsia faggotry to the extent that leading generals were seriously questioning the combat power of the common soldier (look up the Schnez-study for further info).The Bundeswehr only really "got gud" during the 1970ies. Society had largely accepted it as an institution, the officer and NCO corps were mature and key procurement programs (like the Leopard 2 or the Tornado) started to give it a technological edge over its potential adversary. It's hard to judge the combat capability of armies that never actually fought, but for the last 10-15 years of the cold war the Bundeswehr was probably the best drafted army in NATO, at least that was the opinion on the other side of the iron curtain.
>>64183620There weren't any Nazi military elites, only a bunch of cowards who fabricated stories so the Allies would keep them alive.
>>64174448>the Patton was obsoleteso was the T-55 of the east germs
>>64184199the fuck are you talking about. The first plans for a west-German military were drawn up in the Himmerod memorandum. There were 15 authors, all former Wehrmacht officers, amongst them 10 generals and admirals. Of those 15, 7 would later achieve the rank of general or a flag officer rank in the Bundeswehr. 6 further authors would die before 1955 or were simply too old. If those aren't military elites, then I don't know who is.
>>64174448>heir air force was dysfunctional before the 1980s (see F-104G).What does this make eastern air forces into, then? A high school model club?
>>64177784Racist
>>64184278>the fuck are you talking about.The bulk of the German high command's real talent died from 1945-1947. The Himmerod Memorandum came in 1950 after denazification was concluded because it was deemed "counter productive." Mostly because the US sobered up and realized they gave the devil a mechanized army and an industrial base.
>>64184289Decoys to get some time for nuking cities.
>>64184324We wuz Germanz.
>>64177784I wonder if its testors.
>>64176386best post-World War II infantry rifle
>>64176386Thick handguard > thin handguard
>>64186306that's for the 80s
>>64176422>Salvation Army but EEEVILLLLLLLGenuinely some comic book shit
>>64174411>Just how strong was the West German Army 1955-1990In very general terms:55 - 65 was a wild mix of WW2 officers and NCOs with 18 year old conscripts who understood that if WW3 happened it would be nukes by everyone for everyone, and the gear was a mix of barely post WW2 leftovers and some new stuff.All this done in the face of opposition to rearmament by enlisted WW2 veterans.The idea was to counter the East German NVA, and they probably managed that.66 to 75 was a weird time. Counter-culture, youth movement, hippies, etc. meant that morale was at an all time low if you were a conscript. A common saying was 'the mission of the German army is to hold out until soldiers arrive'WW2 veteran officers were aging out, gear was anywhere from new space age tech to the calpped out leftovers of the postwar castoffs mentioned above.On the other hand, money was starting to flow, R&D was getting done.76 to 85 was when al that R&D, money and German engineering started to bear fruit. Morale went up, but the late 70s oil crisis and inflationn meant money was a little tighter.This is when the west really starts leaving teh east in the dust tech-wise, where people started noticing that visiting relatvies in the east was like a trip to 10 or 15 years ago.85 to 90 was when things actually started looking good. Gear was good, morale was good, NCOs and officers clearly understood that the west was outspending the east, without the west breaking the bank and east dropping behind despite making huge economical and societal sacrifices.This was when there was a realization that we might actually win a convenntional conflict with technology countering the WarPac mass, and no automatic escalation to global nuclear war.There are loads of other things going on, most (in)famoously the endless series of procurement debacles (includinng th Starfighter), the whole VTOL thing that resulted in nothing, US pressure ending the German stealth project, etc.
>>64176386Sexy, but horrific ergonomics and manual of arms. I'd rather carry around a boat anchor
>>64190447>German stealth projecta complete meme
>>64190532>a complete meme*a complete memel recovering wunderwaffe project
