German Armed Forces • Bundeswehr MILITARY POWER 2016

German Armed Forces • Deutsch Bundeswehr 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Bundeswehr is the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The States of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, since the German Constitution states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the federal government. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung). The military part of the federal defense force consists of the Heer (Army), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force), Streitkräftebasis (Joint Support Service), and the Zentraler Sanitätsdienst (Joint Medical Service) branches. As of 30 November 2015, the Bundeswehr has a strength of roughly 178,000 active soldiers, placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France in terms of personnel. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 40,000 reserve personnel (2014). With German military expenditures at €34.4 billion, the Bundeswehr is among the top ten best-funded forces in the world, even if in terms of share of German GDP, military expenditures remain average at 1.2% and below the NATO recommendation of 2%. Music: BeyondAwakening – Unstoppable The German armed forces are made up the following types of equipment: Armoured vehicles: Leopard 2, Schützenpanzer Puma, TPz Fuchs, GTK Boxer, BV 206S, Wiesel 1/2, Eagle IV/Eagle V, Enok, Dingo 1/2, Fennek, KMW Grizzly, AGF Serval, DURO III, Mungo ESK, YAK. Artillery and air defence: M270 MLRS, PzH 2000, Mortar "R". Engineering vehicles: Dachs, Büffel, Mine Skorpion, Keiler, Biber, Panzerschnellbrücke 2, M3 Amphibious Rig. Logistics: SLT 50 Elefant, Zetros, Unimog. Aircraft: Eurocopter Tiger, NHI NH90, UH-1 Iroquois, Bölkow Bo 105, Eurocopter EC 135. Handguns: Heckler & Koch USP, Walther P38, Heckler & Koch P7, Glock 17, Heckler & Koch P11, Heckler & Koch P2A1. Submachine guns: Heckler & Koch MP7, Heckler & Koch MP5, UZI. Carbines: Heckler & Koch HK416. Rifles: Heckler & Koch HK417, Heckler & Koch G36, Heckler & Koch G3, Karabiner 98k. Machine guns: Heckler & Koch MG4, Rheinmetall MG3, M2 Browning. Sniper rifles: Accuracy International AWM, Heckler & Koch MR308, Barrett M82. Anti-tank weapons: Panzerfaust 3, MATADOR, Carl Gustav, EUROSPIKE, MILAN. Man-portable air-defense systems: FIM-92 Stinger