Europe can’t be defended against Russian attack: report

The German Kiel Institute has published a disturbing but accurate report on German and European defense. The report suggests that the overall picture for Germany, Europe and the United States is grim.

The bottom line is that despite all the NATO war talk, the alliance (including the United States) is not ready for any conflict with Russia. It also suggests that the pricing of defense equipment is making defense companies rich but not helping the overall cause of security.

The Kiel Institute, founded in 1914, is regarded as Germany’s leading influential think tank. In September, the Institute produced a study called “Fit for war in decades: Europe’s and Germany’s slow rearmament vis-a-vis Russia.”

The study is very important: It points out how unprepared Germany and other European countries are should Russia attack them. It also tells a sad tale about how overpriced and insufficient European, specifically German, defense manufacturing has become.

A great example is Germany’s Caracal air assault vehicle. A Caracal is a kind of wild cat found in Africa, Pakistan, the Middle East and parts of India. The German vehicle, an unarmored gussied-up jeep based on a Mercedes G class chassis, was put together by Rheinmetall, Mercedes-Benz AG and ACS Armored Car Systems GmbH.

The Caracal has no armor on its open sides. Over 3,000 of these vehicles have been provided to Ukraine at a cost of 1.9 billion euros, which works out to 620,000 euros per unit.

You could bolt an antitank gun or machine gun on a four-wheel drive commercial jeep for less than $35,000 per copy. And since Ukraine has no airlift capability, an air assault vehicle dropped onto the battlefield is a non-starter. (The euro now trades at $1.08 to the US dollar.)

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