German army not properly equipped, faces personnel shortage: Report

BERLIN

The German army faces a vast shortage of personnel, military equipment, and ammunition, a parliamentary report revealed on Tuesday.

Eva Hoegl, the parliamentary commissioner for the military, said despite a significant increase in the defense budget last year, the German armed forces still lack essential capabilities.

"Unfortunately, I have to say that the Bundeswehr has too little of everything. There is a lack of ammunition, spare parts, radio equipment, the military doesn’t have enough tanks, ships and aircraft,” she told a news conference in Berlin.

Hoegl noted that the deficiencies have become more serious due to military transfers and support for Ukraine.

“On the issue of personnel shortage, I have no good news. The German army (Bundeswehr) is aging and shrinking,” Hoegl said, and underlined that addressing this problem must be a top priority in the coming months.

According to the annual report, the German army is falling short of its recruitment goals, and has thousands of unfilled vacancies.

“We have had more vacancies but fewer applications last year, recruitment is stagnating and drop-out rates remain very high,” the report has warned.

“With the current approach, it will not be possible to achieve the goal of increasing the personnel strength of the Bundeswehr to 203,000 soldiers by 2031,” it has concluded.