Germany’s Troops MOVE East…

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Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  Germany is executing its largest military rearmament campaign in decades, targeting $189 billion in defense spending by 2029 to reach over 3% of GDP. From permanently deploying the 45th Armored Brigade to Lithuania to successfully test-firing ship-borne LORA ballistic missiles in the North Atlantic, Berlin is reshaping European defense. Discover how Germany's overhauled defense industrial base, startup tech integration, and firm stance against Russian hybrid warfare are setting a new standard for NATO deterrence.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - The End of Restraint: Berlin's Strategic Shift 03:19 - The 2022 Wake-Up Call & €100B Special Defense Fund 05:05 - Target 2029: German & NATO Intelligence on Russian Invasion Timelines 06:59 - Budget Trajectory: Escalating Toward $189B and 186,700 Active Personnel 08:58 - SVI Strategy & Industrial Overhaul: Rheinmetall & Startup Ecosystems 11:50 - Naval History: Naval Testing of the LORA Ballistic Missile 13:26 - Forward Deterrence: Deploying the 45th Armored Brigade to Lithuania 15:18 - Hybrid Warfare Target: Leipzig Airport Explosive Drone & Diplomatic Response:  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/KSKMv2Pk

Transcript

00:01Germany is not messing around.

00:03For decades, its military was characterized by caution and restraint.

00:07But now, the gloves are off.

00:09Berlin is bouncing back in a major way,

00:12pouring billions into one of the most massive rearmament campaigns

00:15Europe has seen in years.

00:16It's rebuilding its military industry,

00:19developing exciting and innovative weapons systems,

00:22and even deploying troops to NATO's eastern flank.

00:24In doing so, Germany is setting a shining example to the rest of Europe

00:28and the entire NATO alliance,

00:30and sending a crystal clear message to Russia too.

00:33If Moscow wants a fight,

00:35Berlin is more than ready to answer the call.

00:37Many military analysts never expected this day to come,

00:41because Germany spent so long,

00:43entire decades to be exact,

00:44treating its military as an afterthought.

00:47For a large part of the post-Cold War era,

00:49despite being one of the wealthiest nations in Europe,

00:52it was also one of the world's most cautious military powers.

00:55It spent very little of its vast federal budget on defense,

00:58which resulted in its armed forces,

01:00the Bundeswehr,

01:02becoming increasingly underfunded,

01:03under-equipped,

01:04and utterly unprepared for any large-scale conflict

01:07that might someday break out.

01:09But Berlin didn't believe that was a problem,

01:11because it thought that the days of war in Europe

01:13were effectively over.

01:15Now, before we explain more,

01:17the military show offers exclusive content just for members.

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01:22to access some of our most fascinating reports.

01:25Unlike its Western European neighbors like France

01:28and the United Kingdom,

01:29both of which maintain nuclear arsenals

01:31and active expeditionary militaries,

01:34Germany exercised unique military restraint and caution

01:37following the end of the Second World War

01:39and throughout the Cold War.

01:40But once the Berlin Wall fell,

01:42and the Soviet Union collapsed,

01:44these countries earnestly believed

01:45that they were entering an unprecedented era

01:48of peace and prosperity.

01:49So why waste money on designing expensive tanks

01:52and fancy fighter jets?

01:54Why waste funds and resources training troops for a war

01:57that was probably never going to happen,

01:59when that same money could be spent on healthcare,

02:02education and infrastructure?

02:04At the time, it seemed to make sense.

02:06As Germany's defense minister,

02:08Boris Pistorius explained,

02:10For more than 25 years,

02:11we all lived in a reality in which we believed

02:13there was no threat.

02:14We don't need to do anything for our own defense.

02:17And even when Russia began to flex its military muscle

02:20and show signs of aggression,

02:22Germany remained in its little bubble,

02:24believing that war would never come to its doorstep again.

02:27In 2014, for example,

02:29when Russia illegally seized control of the Crimean Peninsula,

02:33Pistorius notes,

02:34The Northern European countries reacted immediately,

02:37revitalized conscription,

02:38started rearmament of the armed forces and so on.

02:41Germany and other countries, they didn't.

02:43They heard the alarm clock,

02:44but they pushed the snooze button and turned around.

02:47Thankfully, that alarm became significantly louder in February 2022,

02:52when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

02:55That was the moment when the illusion of some sort of everlasting peace across Europe

02:59was shattered.

03:00It was the wake-up call that Berlin had so desperately needed.

03:04And this time, it wasn't simply going to hit the snooze button.

03:07Instead, it began thinking several steps ahead,

03:10imagining the worst-case scenarios

03:12and putting plans in place to prepare for them.

03:15Mere days into the war,

03:17military officials revealed just how unready the country was for a possible conflict.

03:21Nearly a quarter of its heavy combat equipment,

03:24such as fighter jets and main battle tanks, for example,

03:27was inoperable.

03:28Many soldiers also lacked the most basic of supplies,

03:31like boots, walkie-talkies, and even underwear.

03:33The grim reality of the underfunded Bundeswehr was laid bare for all to see.

03:38But Berlin was ready, willing, and able to fix it.

03:41And if there's one thing that Germany is famous for, its efficiency.

03:46The country realized it may not have the luxury of a decade or two

03:49to level up its armed forces,

03:50and it needed to act quickly and decisively to get back on track,

03:54before Russia decided to expand its aggression beyond the borders of Ukraine.

03:58So, it got to work right away.

04:00In 2022 alone, it established a 100 billion euro,

04:05approximately $113 billion special defense fund,

04:09which was the largest single defense investment by any European government at the time.

04:13That money accelerated procurement efforts across every single combat domain,

04:18from armored vehicles to air defense,

04:20and it was only the first step of many that Germany has since taken to modernize,

04:24expand, and upgrade its military.

04:26We've since seen the world's third-strongest economy pour billions into its rearmament,

04:31while also providing more support for Ukraine than any other country on Earth,

04:35except the United States,

04:36and even rewrite its own constitution in order to allow it to make the swift and sweeping changes

04:41it needs to achieve its goals.

04:43Thankfully, the public has largely been on side with these decisions,

04:47with Pistorius noting,

04:49The majority of the German society and public is convinced that there is a threat again after 25,

04:54almost 30 years of peace.

04:56And many Germans now feel that the threat is growing both larger and more imminent.

05:00While various officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,

05:04and NATO Secretary-General Mark Reuter have claimed that Russia could attack NATO by 2030,

05:10Berlin has an even earlier date in mind, with Pistorius admitting,

05:14Our experts say it can happen in 2029.

05:18Christian Freuding, the inspector of the German army, agrees with this assessment,

05:22and says that other NATO nations feel the same way.

05:25We have to be ready to fight.

05:27It's intelligent.

05:28It's NATO coordinated.

05:29All 32 NATO partners agree that Russia could have the ability to invade a NATO partner country in 2029.

05:37A recent Danish news report, based on military intelligence from various Nordic nations,

05:42reinforces these claims, with experts concluding that Moscow could deploy up to 115,000 troops

05:48along the northern and Baltic borders of NATO, and rebuild its bases in these areas,

05:53ahead of a possible conflict in the Baltic Sea.

05:55This doesn't mean that war between Russia and NATO is sure to kick off in 2029, or even 2030.

06:02But the possibility is there, and the data exists to back it up.

06:06Germany knows that, and it doesn't want to take any chances,

06:09which is why it's essentially operating on the basis that war will happen within the next four to five years.

06:15Berlin also acknowledges and appreciates the fact that the NATO alliance is changing.

06:19The United States has made it clear that it's no longer willing to shoulder so much of the burden

06:24when it comes to military spending and defence.

06:27And it's called on European countries to step up, spend more, and prove that they can stand up for themselves.

06:32And Germany has answered that call quite comprehensively.

06:36And the most obvious way to measure that is in money.

06:39While plenty of nations around Europe have increased their defence budget since the war in Ukraine began,

06:44very few have done so to the same sort of scale as Germany.

06:47It hasn't merely pledged an extra 0.1% of its GDP to military investment or thrown a few extra

06:53billion euros around.

06:54When the war began, the German defence budget was estimated at around $56.15 billion.

07:00A year later, in 2023, it rose by almost 20% to $67.3 billion.

07:07In 2024, it went more than 30% higher still to around $88.5 billion.

07:142025 saw Germany spend around $114 billion on its military,

07:18and the increases are set to continue in the years to come,

07:21with Berlin intending to allocate a whopping $189 billion purely to its defence budget by 2029,

07:28which would comfortably put the country above its 3% GDP defence spend target

07:33and edge it closer towards the 3.5% target it hopes to hit by 2035.

07:38As well as spending significantly more money year on year,

07:42Germany has also managed to attract more recruits to its army as well.

07:46In August of 2026, the Bundeswehr celebrated a massive milestone

07:50as it reached an impressive total of 186,700 personnel,

07:55which is the highest figure in around 13 years.

07:57More troops and more money are obviously major steps in the right direction.

08:02But what arguably matters more is how Germany is spending that money.

08:06Is it buying the right kinds of equipment to be able to cope in a prospective conflict with Russia?

08:11Is it covering all of its bases from drones to cyber warfare?

08:14Now, before we answer those questions, this is why we make the military show,

08:19to explain how power really moves.

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08:24It's not necessarily difficult for countries to commit a little extra cash to their annual defence budget

08:30to effectively save face and seem as though they're doing more to defend themselves.

08:35They can order a few new tanks, for example, and claim that they're modernising their militaries,

08:40despite the fact that they still have multiple glaring weaknesses,

08:43which a serious opponent, like Russia, would easily be able to exploit.

08:47Fortunately, that's not at all how Germany is operating right now.

08:51It isn't just splashing its cash on a few big assets,

08:54or concentrating its spending or modernisation efforts in one particular area,

08:58while overlooking others.

09:00Indeed, according to Berlin's own National Security and Defence Industry Strategy,

09:05or SVI Strategy, Germany has spared no expense and left no stone unturned

09:10when it comes to identifying and addressing the multiple issues facing its security and defence industry today.

09:16The SVI Strategy identifies several big challenges, such as rising economic pressures,

09:22increasing demands on deterrents, regulatory barriers,

09:25and a lack of synergy between civilian and military research.

09:28It also proposes several clear solutions, such as strengthening technologies

09:33and technological sovereignty across fields like AI, IT, and unmanned systems,

09:38establishing new links between civilian and defence-related research and development,

09:42more support for start-ups specialising in dual-use innovations,

09:46a reduction in bureaucracy, and a complete overhaul of procurement law.

09:50In short, Germany isn't just spending more money on the likes of more munitions,

09:54air defence systems, armoured vehicles, drones, and long-range strike systems.

09:59It's rebuilding and refining its entire defence industry,

10:02improving the infrastructure, and streamlining the logistics that underpin it.

10:06It's cutting red tape so that companies can develop and deploy new weapons and equipment more quickly.

10:12It's building bridges across sectors so that materials, information, and resources

10:17can move more quickly and efficiently.

10:18And it's leveraging its existing advantages, like its strong economy

10:22and powerful defence industrial base, anchored by such companies as Rheinmetall, TKMS, and MBDA Deutschland,

10:30to effectively turn itself into Europe's very own weapons and munitions factory.

10:34In doing so, it's solving a problem that's plagued the continent for years.

10:39Countries like France, Germany, and the UK may have plenty of cash to burn,

10:43but they've historically lacked the capacity to actually make weapons and munitions in the quantities

10:47that would be needed to sustain a serious war effort.

10:50As Mark Reuter recently stated,

10:53Cash is crucial, but you can't stop a missile or a tank with a dollar or a euro.

10:57We need to turn the cash into combat-ready capabilities and fast.

11:01This is our shared priority.

11:03Germany is stepping up to the plate to make that happen.

11:06It's empowering small defence start-ups, dozens of which are springing up around Munich,

11:11and the broader Bavaria region in particular, while also providing the necessary support and incentives

11:16for the bigger firms to expand their factories, fast-track research and development of new systems,

11:21and even forge new international partnerships.

11:24Rheinmetall, for example, has started working with several American partners in Ukraine

11:29and is in active discussions about co-producing 155mm artillery munitions and ATAKAMS ballistic missiles.

11:36The US start-up Covenant also recently announced plans to begin mass production of its low-cost Anthem cruise missiles

11:42in Germany,

11:43starting in 2027,

11:45further demonstrating Berlin's commitment to not only strengthening its own army,

11:49but making the whole of Europe stronger.

11:51Because if and when war with Russia does break out,

11:53it'll be up to the continent, not just any single country,

11:56to step up, band together and battle back.

11:59And Germany isn't just investing in new weapons systems and working to build more of its own.

12:04It's also putting them to the test.

12:06On September 2, 2026,

12:09NATO-allied Joint Force Command Brunson revealed

12:12that a German frigate had carried out a previously undisclosed test

12:15of the Israeli-made Laura ballistic missile somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean.

12:20According to NATO's own reporting,

12:22the missile was fired from a vessel equipped with its own command trailer and launcher.

12:26It followed its set trajectory, navigated to its target,

12:29and struck it successfully, meeting all expectations and objectives.

12:33Boasting a range of over 310 miles, 500 kilometers, and incredible levels of precision,

12:39the Laura is particularly valuable for Germany,

12:42since it has lacked a large long-range conventional strike capability of this kind in the past.

12:47That weakness has now been addressed,

12:49with Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kack, Inspector of the German Navy, stating,

12:53With the successful launch of a ballistic missile last night in the North Atlantic,

12:58we made naval history.

12:59I am extremely satisfied with this achievement.

13:02Kack also explained that the Laura can be successfully deployed from our unit,

13:07and the potential range exceeds anything we've known before.

13:10Tests and announcements like these both affirm Germany's genuine commitment

13:14to making sure its military is one of the strongest in the NATO alliance,

13:18and it also gives Russia serious reasons to reconsider whatever long-term plans it may have in store for Europe.

13:24If Vladimir Putin does, for example, intend to invade the Baltic state someday,

13:28he'll now have to contend with the fact that Germany has an increasingly dangerous arsenal of weapons designed specifically to

13:35stop him.

13:35And if Putin had any lingering doubts about Berlin's intentions,

13:40they would have been well and truly crushed when the news broke that Germany was also deploying troops to NATO's

13:45eastern border.

13:46To be more exact, the Bundeswehr's 45th Armoured Brigade has been stationed in Lithuania,

13:51giving Germany a permanent presence close to the Russian border.

13:54It's the first time since the end of the Second World War that Germany has made a move like this,

13:59and for countries like the Baltics and Poland,

14:02which have been doing all they can to strengthen their defences and deter Russian aggression,

14:06it's arguably the biggest and most important move that Berlin could have made.

14:10Because even though NATO nations are all happy to say that they would defend one another,

14:14if ever another world war broke out,

14:17there's a big difference between saying something and actually doing it.

14:20And the countries that would theoretically be on the front lines of a prospective conflict,

14:25like Lithuania, like Poland, like Latvia,

14:28have always had to deal with the lingering questions of,

14:30would our Western allies truly step in and put boots on the ground to help us?

14:34Or would they mainly focus on keeping themselves safe,

14:37while simply sending us supplies and munitions and wishing us the best?

14:41Germany has put those doubts to bed once and for all.

14:44It's not just saying, we will defend the Baltics, it's proving it.

14:49Old post-Cold War Germany would never have done that.

14:51But the new and improved Germany 2.0 plays by a very different rule book.

14:56And while its army is gearing up for a potential ground and air conflict with Russia,

15:00other branches of its armed forces and intelligence agencies are, in many ways,

15:05already waging war with the Kremlin.

15:07That's the assessment of Stefan Thurman, a German defence sector entrepreneur,

15:11who runs a company that supplies combat drones to Ukraine.

15:14Germany's interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has chosen his words more carefully, stating,

15:20We are not at war, but we are a daily target of hybrid warfare.

15:24And there's plenty of evidence to back up that claim.

15:27Like other countries across Western and Central Europe,

15:30Germany has faced rising reports of possible sabotage, espionage, cyber attacks,

15:34and other forms of hybrid warfare in recent years,

15:37many of which can be attributed or at least linked back to Moscow.

15:40A recent high-profile example of this was when a drone carrying explosives was discovered at Leipzig airport.

15:47After investigation, Germany claimed that Russia was behind this attempted attack,

15:51with Dobrindt noting that the incident followed a well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe.

15:57Moscow reacted angrily, with Putin even accusing Germany of faking evidence.

16:01But Berlin hasn't taken the Kremlin's bait and refuses to play pointless political games,

16:06opting instead to take real, impactful actions.

16:09The government announced the closure of the Russian Consulate General in the city of Bonn, for example,

16:14and suspended the operating agreement of the Russian House Cultural Center in Berlin.

16:18It also called for stronger sanctions against Moscow,

16:21and laid out proposals that would allow German intelligence services

16:24to counter hostile operations more efficiently and strike back more aggressively.

16:28And when added to everything else that's already been talked about,

16:32the defense spending increases, the Bundeswehr expansions, the defense industry reconstruction,

16:38the missile tests, the troops in Lithuania, and so much more,

16:41the conclusion is clear and obvious.

16:43Germany isn't just buying a few more weapons or recruiting a few thousand extra troops.

16:48It's rising up to become the leading conventional military power for the whole of Europe for generations to come.

16:54Assuming its responsibilities wholeheartedly to provide a powerful example for its allies

16:59and increasingly fearsome deterrent for its enemies.

17:02And Germany isn't the only big European country making waves in recent times.

17:07Check out this video to see how Italy just gave Ukraine an incredible helping hand that could change the face

17:13of the war dramatically.

17:14Or check out this video to learn about NATO's three-step plan to end the war once and for all.

17:20And finally, subscribe to our channel for more great content just like this,

17:24and consider becoming a member to enjoy instant access to even more exclusive reports.

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