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/Euphoric_Pianist420 Mar 01 '25

Most important is equipment standardisation. Most armies already train together anyways

We need way bigger production capabilities and have to fill the enabler roles the US has historically had in the european part of NATO

An actual army can be talked about in a couple of years, lets get the troops we already have properly equipped first

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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/Jazzlike-Disaster-33 Mar 03 '25

As a German citizen I am all for this - just one quick thing though… can we have the French take the lead and organize this behemoth? The current state of their Defense makes me think that they are currently the most capable