Armored troop (Bundeswehr)

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Beret badge of the armored forces in the Bundeswehr

The Armored Corps is a branch of service in the army of the Bundeswehr . The German armored troops are part of the army's combat troops and, together with the armored infantry troops, form the armored troop group . The main weapon system of the armored forces is the Leopard 2 main battle tank . The main task is the fight against tank formations in open terrain.

assignment

The armored troop is the army's main weapon and is mostly surprisingly deployed in large numbers against enemy armored units in the context of decision-making in search of attack operations. It is mostly used in closed formations together with tank grenadiers and is intended to help win the initiative of a battle through quick, effective success. The armored troops have their strength in attack and in pursuit, but they can also be used successfully for delay and defense . It is their task to inflict the highest possible losses on the advancing enemy by continuing the battle and possibly to regain the initiative by counterattacks on the flank and rear.

The main weapon of the armored force is the main battle tank , which is characterized by firepower , armor and mobility . The tanks can be used to wade through smaller bodies of water, even in short underwater voyages . The tank crew, consisting of the commander , gunner , loader and driver , can continue the fire fight in adverse weather conditions and at night by using modern aiming devices .

From the end of the First World War until the end of the Cold War, the armored force was considered to be the decisive arm in a war.

In the current foreign missions of the German Armed Forces , the armored troops only played a minor role compared to the Cold War . The great logistical challenges for the transport and operation of the battle tanks, as well as the reduced mobility in the countries of deployment due to their high weight and size, led to the fact that today lighter vehicles and infantry are more important than in the Cold War.

history

M47 main battle tank of the first equipment 1959
Autumn maneuvers 1958 of the Bundeswehr in the Westerwald
Three generations of
M 48 A2C main
battle tank Leopard 1A2 main
battle tank Leopard 2A4
Classification of the PzBtl in the Army Structure IV
Outline mixed PzBtl 201 in Army Structure IV. (MobErgPers: Mob supplementary personnel)

After the construction was almost completely completed in the mid-1960s, the Bundeswehr had the following tank units:

Up to Army Structure II , each company had three platoons with five tanks each, plus the tanks of the company commander and a transfer vehicle, a total of 17 battle tanks. The battalion headquarters had three other vehicles at the headquarters and supply company - one each for the commander and the deputy commander, as well as a transfer vehicle. A tank battalion therefore had a strength of 54 main battle tanks . The number of armored vehicles was later reduced.

In total, the Bundeswehr had around 2800 Leopard 1 tank combat vehicles in the tank battalions and M 48 in the tank battalions of the Homeland Security Brigades as tank destroyers and around 970 tank destroyers in the tank infantry units. At the beginning of the 1980s, another 17 tank battalions were set up as mixed units (tanks / tank grenadiers ) with Army Structure IV . They each had a 1 at the end of their association number, a combination of digits that had not been assigned until then. The only exception was the mountain tank battalion 8. In addition to the formation, twelve tank battalions of the homeland security brigades came , but they were only partially active and partially mobile (actual number approx. 60%).

education

The training of the armored troops takes place mainly in the armored troops training area in Munster , the head of which is also the armored troops general . The general of the armored forces is responsible for training the armored forces. The Army Development Office has been responsible for the further development of the military branch since June 2013 . The armored forces training area is part of the Munster training center .

organization

classification

The armored troops in the army were always a separate branch. Until 2005, the armored troop formed the armored combat troop group with the armored infantry troops (before 1995 still part of the infantry), the armored reconnaissance troops and the tank destroyer troops . Since 2005, the Armored Corps is the branch of service combined with the mechanized infantry troops armored troops . The armored troops are part of the Bundeswehr's combat troops .

Active units

In the German army, two divisions and three brigades are referred to as armored divisions and armored brigades in the current “ HEER2011 ” army structure. The Bundeswehr has had 5 tank battalions since March 2016 and the following 6 tank battalions from 2019 :

designation place Association comment
Internal association badge of the tank training battalion 93 Tank Training Battalion 93 Muenster Tank Training Brigade 9
Internal association badge of the tank battalion 104 Panzer Battalion 104 Pfreimd Armored Brigade 12
Internal badge of the tank battalion 203 Panzer Battalion 203 Augustdorf Armored Brigade 21
Coat of arms Panzerbataillon 363.jpg Panzer Battalion 363 Hardheim Panzer Grenadier Brigade 37 Realignment 11/18/2019
Internal badge of the tank battalion 393 Tank battalion 393 Bad Frankenhausen Panzer Grenadier Brigade 37 until mid-2014 Bad Salzungen
Internal association badge of the tank battalion 414 Tank Battalion 414 Lohheide 43rd Mechanized Brigade with Dutch PzKp ust 43rd NL mechanized brigade

Partially active units

The following partially active battalions are planned:

designation place Association status comment
GebPzBtl 8.png GebPzBtl 8 Pfreimd Armored Brigade 12 partially active Reorganization of Gebirgspanzerbataillon 8 on September 20, 2014 in Pfreimd . The battalion is in the line of tradition of the former GebPzBtl 8 in Kirchham, formerly Pocking. Like its predecessor, it is a "regular" tank battalion without any special qualifications for mountain warfare . The battalion is partially active , so that only two of the four companies are actively in service. In peacetime the inactive 1st and 2nd companies stationed in Pfreimd and the active 3rd / GebPzBtl 8 are organizationally subordinate to PzBtl 104, the 4th / GebPzBtl 8 to PzBtl 393 in Bad Frankenhausen , where they are also stationed. As of December 2018, the two companies are destined to reorganize the PzBtl 363 in Hardheim.

Units decommissioned

equipment

Main weapon systems

The main weapon system of the armored force is the Leopard 2 main battle tank . The Bundeswehr (as of August 2017) has a total of 225 Leopard 2 A6 (155), A6M (50) and A7 (20). The 20 main battle tanks of this expansion stage that remained after the sale of 105 Leopard 2 A5s to Poland were taken out of service in order to avoid mixed equipment with different armaments.

The number was April 2015 according to Armaments planning increased to 328 battle tanks and will be realized by buying back 100 tanks that are stored in the armaments industry. In a further step, a total of 104 Leopard 2 will be upgraded from 2019 and upgraded to the A7V level. This modernization measure includes all 20 Leopard A7s of the Bundeswehr, the 16 A6NLs made available by the Netherlands for the 414 tank battalion and 68 of the 100 Leopard A4s that were bought back. Eight vehicles are made available to the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use by the Bundeswehr.

On March 20, 2019, the budget committee of the German Bundestag approved the conversion of another 101 Leopard A6 and A6Ms to the A7V design level by 2026 in order to adapt them to the existing Leopard 2 A7V in terms of operation and logistics. Among other things, they will receive a new target system, new radio equipment and modified fire control computers. The number of Leopard 2 A7Vs (or comparable) then used in the Bundeswehr will then increase to 205 of a total of 328 planned Leopard 2s.

Each battalion leads equivalent to the distribution of the armored personnel carrier in Panzergrenadier battalion 44 battle tank (four per train, three trains each company as well as two per company management group in the three companies and two more for the battalion command). With mutual subordination, however, the formation of a battalion reserve for the combat command is no longer possible, but only the formation of a fourth reserve battalion of the combat-leading brigade, while the Jäger Battalion (GTK) with its hunter companies remains permanently in its combat strip.

uniform

The armor color of the armored troops, shown for example as the color of the braids and collar tabs , is pink . The beret is black and is often worn in combat service. The beret badge of the armored troops shows a stylized battle tank in a wreath of oak leaves, derived from the tank battle badge of the former German Wehrmacht . The disbanded Panzerjäger troops differed from the Panzer troops in this respect only by a different beret badge. Instead of field trousers and field blouses, tank crews wear a one-piece tank combination.

Tactical sign

The military symbol of the armored forces in NATO is the lying oval, which embodies a stylized, circumferential armored chain.

Rank designations

The lowest rank in the armored forces is the armored rifle . He corresponds to the rank of rifleman, radio operator, armored infantryman, etc. ( → see here ) of other branches of service. The other ranks correspond to the general ranks of the Bundeswehr . Soldiers in the lowest rank in units of the earlier tank reconnaissance troops also carried the rank of tank gunner .

Bundeswehr Cross Black.svg Team rank
Lower rank   Higher rank
- Tank guns Private

Rank group : Teams-NCOs-NCO-NCOs-Lieutenant-Captains-Staff officers-Generals

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Panzer Force  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Formations of the armored force. (No longer available online.) Federal Archives, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 14, 2010 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bundesarchiv.de  
  2. ^ Hardheim: The formation of the new 363 tank battalion has begun. Retrieved December 26, 2019 .
  3. mö: Bundeswehr: Tank Battalion are now leaving Bad Salzungen. In: insuedthueringen.de . Suhler Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, February 3, 2014, accessed on August 30, 2014 .
  4. Press Office Tank Brigade 12 : Structure of the Mountain Tank Battalion, 8th Federal Ministry of Defense , the head of the press and information staff , June 10, 2015, accessed on January 6, 2016 .
  5. https://www.rnz.de/nachrichten/buchen_artikel,-neues-panzerbataillon-bundeswehr-entscheidet-sich-fuer-hardheim-plus-fotogalerie-_arid,405093.html
  6. Answer of the Federal Government to the minor question from MPs Jan van Aken, Christine Buchholz, Wolfgang Gehrcke, other MPs and the DIE LINKE parliamentary group. (PDF) German Bundestag, September 11, 2013, accessed on August 10, 2017 .
  7. Information letter from the Army. (PDF, 1.1 MB) (No longer available online.) Förderkreis Heer e. V., March 1, 2012, formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 30, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.davis-creativ-media.de
  8. ↑ Major order for Rheinmetall: 104 Leopard 2 battle tanks of the Bundeswehr are brought up to date. (No longer available online.) In: rheinmetall-defence.com. September 27, 2017, archived from the original on October 3, 2017 ; accessed on October 3, 2017 .
  9. Leopard 2. Bundeswehr buys back 100 battle tanks. In: zeit.de. April 10, 2015, accessed April 10, 2015 .
  10. 428 million euros for national and alliance defense. In: Federal Ministry of Defense. March 20, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019 .
  11. a b The equivalent, higher and lower ranks are given in accordance with ZDv 14/5 B 185, cf. The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, change status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, rank designations in the Bundeswehr, p. B 185 (Not to be confused with the Law on the Legal Status of Soldiers (Soldiers Act) . The order of the ranks shown in the info box does not necessarily correspond to one of the regular rank sequences provided for in the Soldiers' Career Ordinance , nor does it necessarily correspond to the rank hierarchy described in the Superiors Ordinance a managerial relationship ).