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by AndrewPGameDev 1093 days ago
I think you should do some research on the topic before you conclude that "NATO is out of ammunition". I highly recommend Perun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deK98IeTjfY .
2 comments

I'd look to how NATO ran out of PGMs etc when fighting in Libya. I didn't see a big uptick in arms purchases after that. Also, Germany recently crowed about sending 1000 155mm artillery rounds. That's like 3 hours of firing at Ukraine's current rate. The reason Germany has been so slow to provide weaponry to Ukraine is that it is a shell of its former self. The Kriegsmarine has been a joke for decades, the Luftwaffe can barely put 60 aircraft in the air, and the Heer has fewer tanks than Poland, and most of these tanks are in poor condition and shared with the Netherlands.

NATO is not what it was before 1989, and will take decades to come back up to a minimally acceptable level.

FYI, the German Navy is called Bundesmarine or just "Deutsche Marine" (=> "German Navy"), not Kriegsmarine.

The name Kriegsmarine, when used to describe the German Navy, has extremly strong WW2 connotations, on a similar level as "Wehrmacht". :)

Thank you! I've studied WW2 much more in comparison to modern warfare and sometimes I forget the changes.
It will now take less than decades thanks to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
There are huge institutional challenges for this to occur. Production facilities have all been consolidated (as they have in the US since the end of the Cold War.) Budgets are also a problem; the majority of NATO members aren't even making the 2% of GDP goal. And there are also some demographic issues; the population of the EU is aging and military service doesn't have as strong an appeal. Will Germany reinstate the draft?

And some things do take decades, even in perfect conditions. Building up a navy takes time due to the long construction timelines for ships. Developing coordination for combined arms operations requires both good officers and non-coms. These take time to develop as well, and need to be continually sustained.

You can train non commissioned officers in a matter of months (like 2-3). And during WW2 the US was pushing out 3 ships per day.

If you focus efforts, it doesn’t take long at all.

You can set up a schedule to train non-coms in 2-3 months, that doesn't mean they'll be very good. Experience is extremely valuable at this level.

And surely you understand that the US economy and state of industry in 1943 (when the Liberty ships were being launched daily) is quite different than today? Only one country currently has the shipbuilding capacity to even think of something like that. The US (and Europe) have closed down a huge number of shipyards since the end of the Cold War, and it would take decades to create new ones, with trained workforces. All the US shipyards are short workers in almost all categories.

> You can set up a schedule to train non-coms in 2-3 months, that doesn't mean they'll be very good. Experience is extremely valuable at this level.

This one statement means you don’t know what you’re talking about. Non commissioned officers are E4 rank, you can leave bootcamp at E3 rank. 6 months later get E4. NCO only requires experience at the E7 or above level, which don’t fight only lead.

I can confidently say that I know quite a bit more on the topic than you do.

NATO simply has neither the stockpiles nor the production capacity to enter this war.

Meh. We'll make more.

Can you?

Can I what? I am not a country, nor do I speak on behalf of one.
Then how do you know the status of the stockpiles?
The knowledge is there when he needs it. It comes down from upstairs. They tell him what he needs to know, they tell him what he needs to say, and they feed him all the borscht he can eat. And then there's the extra potato ration on Tuesdays to look forward to.

That's the amusing part. The sad part is that the people behind the troll farms still think they're fooling anybody in the West.