Germany — analysis of the armed forces

What the inventory on record could form, man and sustain, by published norms — the same engine and the same figures as the Analysis tab of the interactive map. Models of what the equipment allows, not the real order of battle, training or readiness.

29.8brigade-eq12.6 squadron-eq

169%manning179,850 on strength

7%O&S share$114B · 2025

8.7strength indexinventory only, 0–100

combat categories documented 14 of 17·support categories documented 6 of 7·norms table 2026-10-19·About the method ↗

46 types without a published quantity — counted as 1 unit (lower bound) in the index and coverage

data for Live War: 63 % — missing: ship cells 5, combat radius 2, interceptor stock 2, artillery rounds 1 About the method ↗

Rings

Eurofighter Typhoon — 1,389 km · with tankers 2,084 kmEurocopter Tiger — 370 kmM270 MLRS — 300 km

MIM-104 Patriot — 160 km · low-flying targets 36 km · 1.8 battery on recordOzelot — 8 km · 16.8 batteries on record

Rings from the border: from any point of the territory the system reaches this far — the markers on the map stand in formation, not at bases, so the rings are never drawn from them. Dashed: with tanker aircraft on record (radius × 1.5). Combat radius as the source gives it; a plain published range is divided by three (helicopters: halved).

One battery of the longest-range system of every tier, placed at the centre of the country: solid = engagement range at altitude, dashed = against low-flying targets (radar horizon ≈ 36 km). The share of the territory all the batteries could cover is in the Air-defence coverage section below.

Rings off.

Force structure i

Inventory: a 30-brigade army, a 13-squadron combat air force and a navy of 11 major surface combatants and 6 submarines.

formation · what it means	equivalents
Tank battalion-equivalents`495 tanks ÷ 36`·3 companies of 10–14 tanks; light tanks at half weight derived	13.8
Mechanised battalion-equivalents`2,273 carriers ÷ 30`·3 companies × 10 IFV / APC sourced	75.8
Motorised (protected mobility) battalion-equivalents`1,903 vehicles ÷ 30`·3 companies × 10 MRAP / protected 4×4; not added to brigade-equivalents derived	63.4
Manoeuvre brigade-equivalents`89.5 battalion-eq ÷ 3`·3 manoeuvre battalions (tank + mechanised) per brigade sourced	29.8
Division-equivalents`29.8 brigade-eq ÷ 3`·3 brigades per division sourced	9.9
Artillery battalion-equivalents`134 guns ÷ 18`·3 batteries × 6 guns, self-propelled and towed sourced	7.4
Rocket-artillery battalion-equivalents`33 launchers ÷ 18`·3 batteries × 6 launchers derived	1.8
Mortar battery-equivalents`46 mortars ÷ 6`·6 mortars per manoeuvre battalion sourced	7.7
SAM battalion-equivalents`11 launchers ÷ family norms`·Patriot 11 ÷ 24 sourced	0.5
SAM battery-equivalents`67 launchers ÷ family norms`·other 67 ÷ 4 (fallback) derived	16.8
Attack-helicopter battalion-equivalents`51 helicopters ÷ 24`·24 helicopters per attack battalion (US Army) sourced	2.1
Transport-helicopter battalion-equivalents`250 helicopters ÷ 30`·30 helicopters per assault battalion (US Army) sourced	8.3
Fighter squadron-equivalents`227 aircraft ÷ 18`·18 fighter / attack aircraft per squadron (NATO 12–24) derived	12.6
Transport squadron-eq`61 aircraft ÷ 9`·9 aircraft per squadron (placeholder: half a fighter squadron) assumption	6.8
Tanker squadron-eq`7 aircraft ÷ 9`·9 aircraft per squadron (placeholder: half a fighter squadron) assumption	0.8
AEW&C squadron-eq`14 aircraft ÷ 9`·9 aircraft per squadron (placeholder: half a fighter squadron) assumption	1.6
UAV squadron-eq`58 aircraft ÷ 9`·9 aircraft per squadron (placeholder: half a fighter squadron)·830 small tactical / loitering drones not counted assumption	6.4

Not on record: bombers

naval class	hulls	crews needed
major surface combatants	11	1,650
corvettes & fast attack craft	5	400
submarines	6	300
mine warfare	12	600
auxiliaries	27	1,610

Formation equivalents by published tables of organisation — an estimate of what the inventory could form, not the actual order of battle.

Manning & readiness i

Personnel needed to man the inventory: 106,208 (crews 35,068 / maintainers 31,312 / support 39,828)·on strength: 179,850·manning 169%·the force is infantry-heavy or much equipment is in storage

group	units	availability	effective fleet
Land	41,166	70% assumption	28,816
Air	1,516	65% sourced	985
Sea	61	36% sourced	22

Effective fleet is shown next to the nominal count, never instead of it. Support coefficient 0.6 derived

Air-defence coverage i

tier	at altitude	vs low-flying
Long-range (100 km and more)1.8 batteries·MIM-104 Patriot 160 km	25%	1%
Short-range (under 30 km)16.8 batteries·Ozelot 8 km	0.6%	0.6%

Long-range SAM could cover ~25% of the territory at altitude, ~1% against low-flying targets·Short-range SAM could cover ~0.6% of the territory at altitude, ~0.6% against low-flying targets·all tiers against low-flying targets: up to ~2%

Territory area from the outline: 354,015 km²·overlap factor assumption·radar horizon derived

Strike reach i

system	km
Eurofighter TyphoonFTR·combat radius·with tankers ≈ 2,084 km	1,389
Eurocopter TigerAH·≈ ½ of the published range	370
M270 MLRSMLRS·missile range	300

rings for the 3 longest-range systems (at most 2 per kind)·2 strike types without a documented range

Budget realism i

Inventory value29 of 145 types priced·7% of units covered	$51B
Annual budgetSIPRI 2025	$114B
Operation & support / year7% of budget·benchmark O&M 40%·incl. +30% for equipment families·O&S from estimated unit prices for 107 types	$8.52B
Personnel cost / yearassumed cost per service member $120K (model tier: high, fitted to the budget)·19% of budget·benchmark 22%	$21.6B
Implied procurement sharebenchmark 20% (NATO ≥ 20%)	74%
Years to re-buy the inventoryinventory value ÷ (budget × procurement share)	0.6

Support equipment not documented (MED, C3)·figures are a lower bound

Budget structure compared with US FY2025 / NATO guideline shares; national accounting differs — read as an order of magnitude. Cost-per-service-member tiers derived

World standing i

Active personneltop 36% (9th of 25 documented countries)	179,850
Main battle tankstop 59% (13th of 22 documented countries)	295
Infantry carriers (IFV + APC)top 29% (7th of 24 documented countries)	2,273
Artillery (SP + towed + MLRS)top 67% (16th of 24 documented countries)	167
SAM launchers / systemstop 50% (10th of 20 documented countries)	78
Combat aircrafttop 32% (7th of 22 documented countries)	227
Helicopters (all)top 24% (6th of 25 documented countries)	301
Major surface combatantstop 50% (7th of 14 documented countries)	11
Submarinestop 58% (7th of 12 documented countries)	6
Military budgettop 17% (4th of 24 documented countries)	$114B

Closest inventories: Netherlands (10,450 units, 93% similar), France (33,688 units, 92% similar), Austria (3,440 units, 90% similar)

Inventory Strength Index i

8.7of 100

Land10

Air6.4

Sea5.2

Air defence & missiles1.4

Enablers20.7

Transparent index: published weights × counts, normalised to the leading documented country per block; quality factor 1 for every type until stage 2; mass categories on a square-root scale above 100 units. It measures inventory, not training, doctrine, readiness or will — like every such index. Weights assumption mass rule assumption

Fleet age i

category	type entered service	older than 30 y	past life by 2036
Multiple Launch Rocket Systems1 of 1 types with a year few types·M270 MLRS 1983	1983	100%	100% (30 y)
Surface-to-Air Missile Systems1 of 2 types with a year few types·MIM-104 Patriot 1981	1981	100%	100% (30 y)
Radar Systems1 of 9 types with a year few types·RRP 117 1980	1980	100%	100% (25 y)
Fighter Aircraft1 of 1 types with a year few types·Eurofighter Typhoon 2003	2003	0%	0% (35 y)
Attack Aircraft1 of 2 types with a year few types·Panavia Tornado IDS 1979	1979	100%	100% (35 y)
AEW&C Aircraft1 of 1 types with a year few types·Boeing E-3 Sentry 1977	1977	100%	100% (35 y)
Attack Helicopters1 of 1 types with a year few types·Eurocopter Tiger 2003	2003	0%	100% (25 y)
Transport Helicopters2 of 3 types with a year few types·Sikorsky CH-53 1966 … NH90 TTH 2007	1989	45%	100% (25 y)
Submarines1 of 1 types with a year few types·Type 212 2005	2005	0%	0% (33 y)
Frigates3 of 3 types with a year·F123 Brandenburg class 1994 … F125 Baden-Württemberg class 2019	2006	36%	64% (30 y)
Corvettes1 of 1 types with a year few types·K130 Braunschweig class 2008	2008	0%	0% (30 y)
Mine Warfare Vessels2 of 2 types with a year few types·Type 352 Ensdorf class 1989 … Frankenthal class 1992	1992	100%	100% (30 y)

Year the type entered service, not the airframes: fleets built long after the type's debut (Mi-8, F-16, Tu-95) look older here than they are.·Service life by category low-confidence source

Open Germany on the map Equipment list of Germany About the method

Figures are static: they are rendered at build time from the same data as the map and change with every data update. Norms, sources and statuses: the method page.