Deutsches Heer or Heer (In English: German Army ) is the body of land of Bundeswehr (German Armed forces).
Which currently constitutes the largest and most powerful ground force of European Union. Traditionally the German military forces have been composed by the Army, by Marine and just before the WWI, by Air Force. The Heer was reformed in 50s As host of the West Germany and as part of Bundeswehr. In October 1990 the army East Germany and the whole structure was built at the Deutsches Heer.
History
Overview
Since Germany became the modern unified state in 1871 the name of the military were:
- Reichswehr 1919-1935 ("Imperial Defence"), which consists of Reichsheer ( Imperial Army ), and in Reichsmarine ( Imperial Navy ).
- Wehrmacht 1935-1945 ("Defence Force"), which consisted of the Heer (army ), in Kriegsmarine (Navy ), and Luftwaffe ( Air Force );
- Bundeswehr 1955-1990 ("Federal Defense" the West Germany), which consisted of the Heer, the Bundesmarine ( Navy Federal ) and Luftwaffe
- National Volksarmee 1956-1990 ("National People's Army" the East Germany), concerned Landstreitkräfte ( land forces ) Luftverteidigung ( Air Force ) and Volksmarine ( Marine popular).
- Bundeswehr current 1990, Reunified in October 1990 when the whole structure of the army in East Germany was incorporated into the current Bundeswehr, which is formed by the Deutsches Heer, Deutsche Marine and Luftwaffe.
Pre -1914
After the defeat of Napoleon in Battle of Waterloo the realm of Prussia has had years of military successes in nineteenth and XX centuries. Every man between 17 and 45 years, was obliged to give military service. There were four classes of service; Assets (Aktiv) Reserve, Landwehr and Landsturm. The Landwehr and the Landsturm are called only on the brink of war. The basic unit of the army at this time was the Regiment. The regiment gave support to a specific city or region . Each regiment was stationed near his hometown. The regiment's reserve was composed mostly of members from the local regiment . Units Landwehr and Landsturm were organized the same way. A person could spend all 22 years of military service surrounded by his friends and family. This system has created strong ties in the regulations, however there was a danger to all people of a city being killed in battle at once .
World War I (1914-1918)
The German army that fought in WWI was not really a unified army . The four Germanic kingdoms that existed before the
German soldiers during the Battle of Marne
Unification in January 1871, Namely Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony and Württemberg, which each had its own army before unification. Prussia was the largest of the four armies . After the unification and the formation of German Empire, The Prussian army became the core of the Imperial German Army ( Deutsches Heer or Kaiserliches Reichsheer ). In 1914 the German Army has 50 active divisions and 1918, 250 divisions. The term " German army "came to be used only after the signing of Versailles Treaty in 1919.
Reichswehr (1918-1935)
With the end of WWI and the signature of Versailles Treaty, The German army ( Heer ) was simply dissolved. Many soldiers have come together in small armed groups known as Freikorps. The Freikorps were generally groups of 100 men or less, which protected a neighborhood or a city. In March 6 of 1919 an army known as the Vorläufige Reichswehr ( provisional German defense force ) was formed with about 400,000 men , many from the Freikorps . Then, in September 30 of 1919 Übergangsheer the Army ( Transitional ) was established as the Defence Force along the Freikorps eat . Finally, January 1 of 1921, 100.000 manmade formed the Reichswehr , with seven infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions . The Reichswehr was controlled by the Allies in the hope of avoiding a future German military aggression .
Wehrmacht (1935-1945)
Under the Versailles Treaty, The Reichswehr was limited to only 100,000 men divided between the army and navy. In 1933 Hitler came to power and began to reject the treaty. The army was incorporated in Wehrmacht in May 1935 with the "Law for the reconstruction of the National Defence Force . " The Wehrmacht included not only the army and navy but also the air force, known as Luftwaffe. Initially, the army was expanded to 21 units at divisional and smaller formations . Between 1935 to 1.945 this force consisted of hundreds of divisions and thousands of smaller units. Between 1939 and 1.945 around 16 million people served in the army . Of these, 1.6 million were killed and 4.1 million were injured. Of the 7361 men who received the initial class of the highest honor German combat WWII. the Iron Cross, 4,777 were from the army, making up 65% of the total granted. The German army has been implicated in war crimes, including providing assistance in genocide of European Jews during the Holocaust. The Allies dissolved the German army in August 20 of 1946.
Cold War 1956-1990
The Heer was founded in 1955 as the army of West Germany. After 1990, it absorbed the army of socialist East Germany, a part of the Nationale Volksarmee. The former East German forces were initially commanded by the Bunderwehr Command East under command of Lieutenant General Jörg Schönbohm, which was disbanded on 30 June 1991. In the aftermath of the merge, the German Army consisted of four Corps with a manpower of 360,000 men. It was continuously downsized from this point. In 1996, an airborne brigade was converted into a new command leading the Army's special forces, known as the KSK.
The 2001 onwards restructuring of the German Army saw it move to a seven division structure – 5 mechanized (each with two mechanized brigades), 1 special forces, and one airmobile.
In 2003, three Corps still existed, each including various combat formations and a maintenance brigade. I. German/Dutch Corps, a joint German-Netherlands organization, used to control in peacetime the 1st Panzer and 7th Panzer Divisions as well as Dutch formations. The 1st Panzer would have reported to the corps in wartime while the 7th would be posted to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. II Corps was German in peacetime but would have exchanged a division with the V U.S. Corps in time of war (the 5th Panzer). 5 Pz Division disbanded as of 30 June 2001. In peacetime it also commanded the 10th Panzer Division, which was allocated to Eurocorps and which parents the German half of the Franco-German Brigade. The 1st Mountain Division at Munich was also under this headquarters.
The IV Corps was headquartered at Potsdam in eastern Germany and controlled two Panzer-Grenadier Divisions, the 13th and 14th. The 14th Panzer-Grenadier Division also took control of units in Western Germany re-subordinated from the 6th Division when it lost its command function. It would have made up the German contribution to the Multinational Corps Northeast in time of war. IV Corps also used to have under its command the Military District Command I, the 1st Air Mechanised Brigade, and the Berlin Command ('Standortkommando').
Equipemnt
Weapons
- Heckler & Koch G36 -5.56 mm x 45 assault rifle (Version G36K and G36C for several branches including Special Forces)
- Heckler & Koch MG4—5.56 mm light machine gun
- MG3—7.62 mm x 51 machine gun
- Heckler & Koch G8—7.62 mm x 51 automatic rifle, only used by special forces
- HK21E -7.62 mm x 51 machine gun, only used by special forces
- M3M -12.7 mm x 99 heavy machine gun, used on armored vehicles and CH-53 helicopters
- Heckler & Koch MP7 -4.6 mm x 30 submachine gun, replacing the MP2
- MP2 -9 x 19 mm submachine gun
- Heckler & Koch MP5—9 x 19 mm submachine gun, used by various units like the Feldjäger and special forces
- Heckler & Koch P8—9 x 19 mm pistol
- Remington 870 - shotgun, used in small numbers by special forces and the military police (Feldjäger)
- G22 -7.62 mm x 66.5B sniper rifle
- G24 -sniper rifle, only used by special forces
- G82 -sniper rifle
- HK MSG3 -7.62 mm x 51 designated marksman rifle
- Dynamit Nobel Panzerfaust 3—anti-tank rocket launcher
- Raytheon Fliegerfaust 2 (FIM-92 Stinger) -infrared homing surface-to-air missile
- MILAN -anti-tank guided missile system
- Granatpistole 40mm -grenade launcher
- HK GMG -grenade autocannon
- AG36 -grenade launcher
- KM2000 -172 mm tantō style blade standard combat knife
Recon
- Fennek (wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicle), replacing the Spähpanzer Luchs
- Luna X 2000 (reconnaissance drone system)
- KZO (reconnaissance drone system)
- Aladin (reconnaissance drone system)
- Camcopter S-100(VTOL reconnaissance drone system, procurement planned)
- MIKADO (mini reconnaissance drone system)
- Fancopter (mini reconnaissance drone system)
- RASIT (radar system), being phased out
- BÜR (ground surveillance radar system, based on Dingo 2)
Armoured Vehicles
- Leopard 2 (Main Battle Tank)
- A4, being phased out
- A5
- A6
- Marder 1 A3/A5 (infantry fighting vehicle)
- Spz Puma (infantry fighting vehicle), replaces the Marder in the Mechanized Infantry, being *delivered
- Wiesel 1/2 (armoured weapons carrier), usedas a reconnaissance vehicle for the airborne troops
with autocannon 20 mm with TOW anti-tank guided missile with mortar 120 mm as a radar vehicle for the light air defence system (LeFlaSys) as a command vehicle for the LeFlaSys as an engineer reconnaissance vehicle with Stinger equipped for the LeFlaSys as a medical vehicle for the airborne troops M113 A2 (multirole armoured vehicle) being phased out GTK Boxer (multirole armoured fighting vehicle) to replace M113 and TPz Fuchs (planned) IAI Harop (unmanned combat aerial vehicle), loitering munition in combination with Rheinmetall KZO, ordered Dingo 1/2 (armoured wheeled vehicle) Eagle IV (armoured wheeled vehicle) LAPV Enok (light armoured patrol vehicle) Grizzly (armoured wheeled vehicle) AGF Serval (reconnaissance and combat vehicle) DURO III (armoured wheeled vehicle) YAK (armoured wheeled vehicle), based on DURO III Mungo ESK (armoured transport vehicle) TPz Fuchs (multirole armoured vehicle) BV 206 S (tracked armoured transport vehicle)
Artillery
M270 MLRS (227 mm multiple rocket launcher) PzH 2000 (155 mm self-propelled howitzer) ABRA (artillery radar system), being phased out Mortar TAMPELLA (120 mm) Mortar "R" (120 mm) COBRA (counter artillery radar system) ATMAS (artillery weather measure system) SMA (artillery sound measure system)
Anti-Aerial Systems
- Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard 1 A2 (self-propelled anti air gun), will be formally phased out in late 2010 and then replaced by SysFla in the upcoming years.
- LeFlaSys (light anti-aircraft missile system), based on Wiesel 2
- MANTIS (stationary counter rocket, artillery, and mortar system for base protection), to be delivered in 2011
- SysFla (system air defence – mobile and stationary platforms using the LFK NG and MANTIS), under development
- LÜR (radar system), being phased out
Engineering Equipment
Dachs (tracked engineer tank) Büffel (tracked salvage tank) Biber (bridge layer) Panzerschnellbrücke 2 (bridge layer), replacing the Biber Skorpion (mine layer) Keiler (mine breaker) M3 Amphibious Rig (amphibious vehicle) Motorboot 3 (motorboat) Medium Girder Bridge (bridge system) Faltfestbrücke (solid bridge system) Faltschwimmbrücke (swimming bridge system) Pontoon bridge