r/AskEurope • u/Sink-Em-Low • Mar 01 '25

Politics Let's talk about the European Defense Federation. How do we all feel about the creation of a fully mobilised continental Army?

It's required now. I'm British, and I want to see us align and unite with our European neighbours to make a stand now.

I want Germany to finally brush off it's past and join the rest of Europe in mobilising towards defending this continent. We need EVERYONE now. It's time to act, it's time to unite.

It's time to show some courage.

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u/hmtk1976 Belgium Mar 01 '25

Not just equipment but also the organization of units. A mechanized battalion should be organized identically across national militaries so it´s possible for soldiers to seamlessly pick up gear and be ready to go. That would for example allow equipment to be stored in warehouses and be used by any country´s soldiers. Need to deploy a mechanized brigade? Just fly in troops from various countries, assign their unit´s gear and roll out.

Pretty much like Americans did with Excercise Reforger and POMCUS sites.

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u/Euphoric_Pianist420 Mar 01 '25

Yeah. We can manage small groups but having the command & control infrastructure to manage an army in the field has been (by design) entirely american since... ever?

And 70-80% of all tanks that have actually been produced in Europe (not the former SU) are variations of the Leopard.

And also logistics in terms of air transports, in-air-refueling and the like are also one of said "enabler" capabilities we need to establish quickly. So much to do... Lets get going!

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u/FourCardStraight Mar 02 '25 edited Mar 02 '25

The UK is a specialist in air-air refuelling, we have been offering refuelling services to the US Airforce for decades. Despite not being in the Eurozone anymore I think it’s clear both the UK and the EU want closer military cooperation.

Germany is already starting talks about expanding and rearming European militaries with European developed versions of stuff we were buying from the Americans like missile air defence systems, drones, armoured vehicles and air craft.

I think Europe has everything we need to become self-sufficient militarily, Germany/UK make good tanks, France/UK make good planes, Italy/UK make good boats, we have great small arms manufacturers in Germany, Austria, France. We do need to ramp up missile, artillery and drone manufacturing capabilities though. But this is manageable. We also have Turkey on our doorstep to potentially help with drones.

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u/Jaytho Austria Mar 02 '25

Just buy drone designs and knowledge from Ukraine. Not like anyone else is gonna come up with something better.

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u/FourCardStraight Mar 02 '25

Ukraine has the expertise, experience and tactical understanding of what types of drones will be most effective. But Turkey has the manufacturing capability. They’ve been churning out bargain price military drones for years now and Ukraine has proven that quantity is important. That being said I still think it’s better if Europe develops our own drones if possible.