The Bundeswehr (German: Bundeswehr) was created in 1955 and was the armed force of West Germany (Germany) during the Cold War. However, after the fall of communism in the GDR and the destruction of the Berlin Wall, it became the armed force of a united Germany. During the Cold War, it was considered the first army to respond to an anticipated Soviet attack and bear the brunt of the Soviet invasion. For this reason, he emphasized, among other things, the development of armored weapons, which led to the introduction into service of the successful Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 machines. At the height of the Cold War, he had approx. 495 thousand. soldiers and 170,000 civilian employees. It consisted of 12 divisions divided into 3 combined army corps - most of them were mechanized and armored. For example, in the early 1970s, the West German mechanized division had as many as 252 tanks. After 1989, numerous reforms were carried out in the Bundeswehr, aimed at reducing it and introducing new equipment into the equipment. For example, conscription was canceled in 2011, and in the same year a reform was carried out, which was supposed to reduce the number of Bundeswehr to 185 thousand people. active duty soldiers and 40,000 reservists In 2013, about 63,000 people served in the ground forces (German: Herr). soldiers Currently, the core of the German armored forces consists of two divisions: the 1st and 10th tank divisions. The 1st Division has two armored brigades, while the 10th Division has only one armored brigade. The main tank of these brigades is Leopard-2, of which 250 units were in service at the beginning of 2015.
