Jonathan (thanks bud!) sent me this disturbing article laying out the Dutch plan to kill its ENTIRE fleet of Leopard tanks and Cougar helicopters. Is it me or might I owe the Brits an apology. As draconian as there cuts have been (and I'm convinced that they went too far...killing the Joint Harrier Force...the Ark Royal...basically giving away a new LSD...) it seems that other Western European countries are ready to go even further. Read it and wonder.
Dutch Army to Sell All Leopards and Cougars Army to Sell All Leopards and CougarsThe only good news in this mess is that they're going to buy the second F-35. Still despite what many think...I'd rather see a balanced, effective force rather than one that is so (evidently the future) tilted toward air power.
THE HAGUE, 08/04/11 - The cabinet is virtually certain to announce enormous cutbacks at defence today. According to a leaked draft version of the measures, 12,000 jobs and complete army units will disappear.
Defence Minister Hans Hillen already announced permanent budget cuts of 1 billion euros per year earlier. The cabinet already considered the far-reaching cutbacks last week. The decision was however postponed and will likely be made today.
Public broadcaster NOS has already obtained the plans. It says that all 60 Leopard tanks will be divested. The 17 Cougar helicopters are also to go, as well as four of the 10 mine-sweepers. At least one-third of the 86 F-16s will also be sold.Some 12,300 jobs will disappear. Around 6,000 soldiers will face forced redundancies. NOS has not yet discovered where the blows will actually fall.
The unions are furious and derisive. Bigger missions such as that in Uruzgan - four years, 2,000 personnel - will no longer be possible in the future, says ACOM chairman Kleian. "The Netherlands will have a Belgian armed forces. Flying now and then. And if there is money and petrol, then we will do a trick."
According to defence sources, the Apache helicopters and Bushmaster heavy armoured vehicles will take over the tasks of the Leopards. The Netherlands can also step up European partnership, for example with Germany. But for this, there appears to be more willingness within the Netherlands than outside it.
The Netherlands and Germany do already have a combined army unit. Allies are however hesitant about awarding full airforce or army tasks to a specific country.
One in seven of the military must fear for their jobs. Defence currently employs nearly 69,000 people, including 48,300 military. Hillen will sharply prune the number of officers. Generals will also not escape the cutbacks.
A sour detail for the military who are virtually on the street is that the cabinet will likely also approve the purchase of a second F35 JSF test aircraft today. This US fighter aircraft is to replace the F-16s. The investment will cost many billions.
It's not just that. Two corvettes (still to be constructed!) are to be sold (probably to Oman), the two replenishment ships will be sold/decomissioned and (hopefully) replaced by a single JSS.
ReplyDeleteProbably a full marine company will be cut as well, as might all marine battalion staffs, creating a regiment with 5-6 seperate companies.
Air defense units (Patriot PAC3/NASAMS/GBADS) will be halved, a full F-16 squadron cut.
Army combat support will be gutted; engineers and logistics will suffer. Holland will focus on short interventions instead of long deployments.
It's bad. Could be worse, but still bad.
Future orbat;
4 submarines
4 LCF air defense/command destroyers
2 M-frigates
2 patrol ships/corvettes
6 minehunters
2 LPDs
1 JSS
5-6 marine companies
4 mechanized battalions (CV90 only, probably all in one brigade)
3 air assault battalions
1 ISTAR battalion
reduced artillery (1 PzH2000 battery?)
4 SOF companies
60 F-16A MLUs (40 combat coded)
29 Apaches (16 combat coded)
20 NH-90s (8 navy, 8 air force)
11 CH-47D, 6 CH-47F
4 C-130H/-30s, 2 KDC-10, 1 DC-10-30F, 1 G-IV
2-3 Patriot PAC-3 batteries,
NASAMS future still unknown,
Stingers.
But the logistics/support structure will really hurt. Not being able to build and sustain forward bases is going to bite us in the ass later on.
Black Friday, indeed.
that's worse than bad.
ReplyDeleteyour forces are being gutted.
call me a cheerleader...call me brash but i've been a huge fan of your military and have in the past compared it favorably with the forces of the UK post SDSR.
i can't do that anymore.
this is extremely depressing.
Getting rid of tanks, considering how useful the Canadians and Danes have showed them to be in Afghanistan, is absurd and without any legitimately sound basis.
ReplyDeleteI hope Dutch politicians realize that when you get rid of a capability like that, it is not something that can easily be gained back in times of crisis. You're essentially throwing decades of corporate knowledge, so to speak, in armoured warfare.
Looks oddly familiar. Almost like the Belgian Army just with tracked instead of wheeled IFVs, just with a fully air mechanized "Light Brigade". The German Army will gladly increase their training cooperation with the Netherlands (I think they already train their artillery troops at the German Army's artillery school), but we don't really need more light/medium infantry (as our politicians and high ranking officers seem to be on the same strange drug induced trip: "We don't need tanks, artillery, organic fire support ... in future operations", which reminds me of the 90s, when the top brass axed almost all the light infantry battalions claiming that there was no possible role for them in the future of warfare.)
ReplyDeleteSome minor 'good' points; the marines are untouched, and will even be 'consolidated' (read: reinforced, but not quite).
ReplyDeleteA serious Cyberwarfare capability will be created, as will a MALE UAV capability - as yet just an ISR platform, but may include a future PGM role.
Good catch on the Belgium restructuring; some voices wanted a similar organization. If the CV90 wasn't bought already, it may have been replaced by a wheeled version.
On the tanks, the decision was made that the current Leo 2A6 are the most modern, but would eventually have to be replaced in the next 10 years. So instead of deciding for a replacement then, it's decided to cut them now, and evaluate later on (money permitting) if a tank should be re-introduced.
Those 6,000 forced lay-offs are hurting though.
The German Army won't replace their Leo2s anytime soon. There are various upgrade packages available (including hard-kill defence systems, ...). Also, I heard that the Belgians still maintain two companies of Leo1s and are not sure they really want to phase them out.
ReplyDeleteThe Belgian Leo1s are held in reserve untill their replacement, the wheeled 90mm AIV variant, enters service. Even the Belgians admit that the Leo1 is old - earlier attempts to replace them with Dutch Leo2A5s failed (those eventually went to Canada).
ReplyDeleteGermany can upgrade their Leo2s because they still have significant reserve ("low mileage") tanks. The Dutch Leo2s are worn out - or will be in ten years or so.