German foreign minister vows to support Ukraine war effort, “no matter what my German voters think”
Germany’s foreign minister has decided that she will support the war in Ukraine- regardless of what Germans want or how it may impact their quality of life. In what seems to be a case of taking support of the “current thing” way too far, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said... Read more
The German Air Force Is Falling to Pieces
Germany’s air force is in a lot of trouble, according to its leader “The Luftwaffe is at a low point,” Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, Germany’s new chief of the air force, said in a speech on June 27, Reuters reported . The Luftwaffe is the official name of branch. Gerhartz added:... Read more
Germany’s Failed Attempts to Build a Cold War Jump Jet
This story originally appeared on March 30, 2014. During the gloomy years of the Cold War, no other country could expect to be as badly wrecked by a nuclear war than West Germany. It would have been the principal battlefield during a full-scale conflict, and would have been caught... Read more
A Future German Fighter Jet’s Main Enemy Is the F-35
Germany’s military is a case study in an armed force in need of new equipment. The problems cut across the Bundeswehr and are particularly acute with the aging air force. Germany’s combat air fleet — around 180 fighters — has around 85 Panavia Tornados with the rest being Eurofighter Typhoons.... Read more
West Germany’s Cold War Commando Gun
While the most famous product of Carl Walther GmbH in fiction is the PPK pistol used by James Bond, Walther actually made a line of submachine guns that were the weapon of choice of real covert operatives during the Cold War. The Walther Maschinenpistole (MP) line — in either... Read more
Germany’s Leopard 2 Tank Was Considered One of the Best — Until It Went to Syria
Germany’s Leopard 2 main battle tank has a reputation as one of the finest in the world, competing for that distinction with proven designs such as the American M-1 Abrams and the British Challenger 2. However, that reputation for nigh-invincibility has faced setbacks on Syrian battlefields, and placed Berlin... Read more
Every German Submarine Is Out of Action
On Oct. 15, 2017, the submarine U-35 was performing a diving maneuver off the Norwegian coast when one of the four fins on its X-shaped rudder struck a rock. The damage was severe enough she needed to be escorted back to Kiel by the testing ship Helmsand. The 56-meter-long submarine would have... Read more
This Is How Republics Fall
Germany’s Weimar Republic was doomed from the start. World War I left Germany in a precarious position. The Treaty of Versailles ended outright aggression, but also crippled the German economy and saddled the German people with a government they never quite believed in. Worse, it stipulated that Germany take... Read more
A Nazi War Train Hauled the Biggest Gun Ever Made
This story originally appeared on July 31, 2015. War trains dominated combat for more than 100 years. Massive railborne artillery shelled the enemy while trains unloaded troops and supplies. For a brief moment, the terrifying machines were the most powerful weapon on the battlefield. But technology advanced. Improvements to... Read more
The Third Reich’s Giant Electric Submarine Fail
This story originally appeared on April 30, 2014. On May 4, 1945 one of the most advanced submarines in the world crept up to a British Royal Navy cruiser. U-2511 was one of Germany’s new Type XXI-class “wonder” submarines, and she was hunting for Allied ships. She also represented... Read more

Robert Beckhusen

Managing Editor