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43-493: With a nominal weight of 500 lb (230 kg), it is one of the smallest bombs in current service, and one of the most common air-dropped weapons in the world. Although the Mk82's nominal weight is 500 lb (230 kg), its actual weight varies depending on its configuration, from 510 to 570 lb (230 to 260 kg). It is a streamlined steel casing containing 192 lb (87 kg) of Tritonal high explosive. The Mk82

86-698: A European Defence Community . On 8 February 1952 the Bundestag approved a German contribution to the defense of Western Europe and on 26 February 1954 the Basic Law of the Republic was amended with the insertion of an article regarding the defence of the sovereignty of the federal government. Following a decision at the London Nine Power Conference of 28 September to 3 October 1954, Germany's entry into NATO effective from 9 May 1955

129-790: A certain beret color (except for the mountain troops, who carry a distinctive cap ) and uniform markings in a certain Waffenfarbe , although the combinations might overlap. As part of various reorganizations (such as the creation of the Joint Support Service and the Cyber and Information Domain Service ) and the reductions in size of the Bundeswehr after 1990, several Truppengattungen were dissolved. Waffenfarbe (Army and army support branch only) The rank structure of

172-487: A cheaper substitute for Torpex and HBX under UWE designation (UnderWater Explosive) before it turned out Allies could produce enough RDX to cover all naval requirements late in WWII. German Army The German Army ( German : Heer , 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Germany . The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr together with

215-427: A different organisation, for example an armoured brigade would not be expected to contain more tanks than a mechanised one. Further vehicles include: Armoured personnel carrier and fighting vehicles: Trucks: The German Army is divided into several branches, each known as a Truppengattung , which might also be part of a Truppengattungsverbund which includes several Truppengattungen . Each Waffengattung carries

258-450: A field artillery battalion and a supply battalion. The alpine brigades consisted of three alpine battalions, a mountain artillery battalion and a supply battalion. By 1959 the Heer consisted of 11 divisions of 27 brigades, four Panzer (armoured), four Panzergrenadier (mechanised), two Jäger (motorised), and one Gebirgsjäger (alpine). From roughly 1970 onward, Army Structure 3 saw

301-497: A joint German-Netherlands organization, used to control in peacetime the 1st Panzer and 7th Panzer Divisions as well as Dutch formations. The 1st Panzer would have reported to the corps in wartime while the 7th would be posted to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps . II Corps was German in peacetime but would have exchanged a division with the V U.S. Corps in time of war (the 5th Panzer ). The 5th Panzer Division

344-499: A mechanised and mountain division respectively. The non-NATO assigned territorial army formed 10 further territorial defense brigades for rear area security at varying readiness levels, with most units being partially manned in peacetime and others being entirely non-active units with equipment in storage. Brigades in the field army grew to four combat battalions instead of three. Mechanised brigades typically consisted of one Panzer and three Panzergrenadier battalions, of which one

387-495: A minor redesign to allow it to meet the insensitive munitions requirements set by Congress. According to a test report conducted by the United States Navy 's Weapon Systems Explosives Safety Review Board established in the wake of the 1967 USS Forrestal fire , the cooking off time for a Mk82 is approximately 2 minutes 30 seconds . More than 4,500 GBU-12/Mk82 laser-guided bombs were dropped on Iraq during

430-478: A successor to the defeated Wehrmacht , but as in the traditions of the Prussian military reformers of 1807 to 1814 and the members of the military resistance during National Socialism, such as the officers which undertook the failed 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 . Nevertheless, for lack of alternatives the officer corps was made up largely of former Wehrmacht officers. The first Chief of

473-759: Is offered with a variety of fin kits, fuzes , and retarders for different purposes. The Mk82 is the warhead for the GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and for the GBU-38 JDAM. Currently only the General Dynamics plant in Garland, Texas and Nitro-Chem in Bydgoszcz , Poland are Department of Defense-certified to manufacture bombs for the US Armed Forces. The Mk82 is currently undergoing

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516-466: Is released, slowing the bomb by increasing drag, thus allowing the delivery aircraft to safely pass over the target before the bomb hits it. Tritonal Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20% aluminium powder , used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped bombs . The aluminium increases the total heat output and hence impulse of the TNT ;– the length of time during which

559-573: The Marine (German Navy) and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). As of 2024 , the German Army had a strength of 63,047 soldiers. A German army equipped, organized, and trained following a single doctrine and permanently unified under one command was created in 1871 during the unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia . From 1871 to 1919, the title Deutsches Heer (German Army)

602-803: The Waffen-SS was not a branch of the Wehrmacht but was a combat force under the Nazi Party 's own Schutzstaffel (SS). The Heer was formally disbanded in August 1946. After World War II, Germany was divided into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), which both formed their own armed forces: on 12 November 1955 the first recruits began their service in

645-745: The 6th Panzergrenadier Division when it lost its command function. It would have made up the German contribution to the Multinational Corps Northeast in time of war. IV Corps also used to have under its command the Military District Command I, the 1st Airmobile Brigade , and the Berlin Command ( de:Standortkommando Berlin ). The current structure was assumed with the most recent German Army reform which also suspended conscription by 1 July 2011 and saw

688-1011: The Army Command ( Kommando Heer ) in Strausberg near Berlin . The training centers are supervised by the Army Training Command in Leipzig . The combat units of the army now include two armoured divisions and the lighter rapid forces division. Unlike other European armies such as neighbouring France, regiments are not a common form of organization and are thus rare in the German army. Battalions and regiments are directly subordinate to brigades or to divisions as divisional troops. German infantry battalions field 1,000 men, considerably larger than most NATO armies. While some brigades are still designated as either Panzer (armour) or Panzergrenadier (mechanised infantry) formations, these names are by now traditional and no longer imply

731-567: The Heer absorbed the Nationale Volksarmee , the armed forces of East Germany . The former East German forces were initially controlled by the Bundeswehr Command East under the command of Lieutenant General Jörg Schönbohm and disbanded on 30 June 1991. In the aftermath of the merger, the German Army consisted of four Corps (including IV Corps at Potsdam in the former DDR) with a manpower of 360,000 men. It

774-498: The Joint Medical Service in 2000. The transferred units continue to wear army uniforms. The 2001 onwards restructuring of the German Army saw it move to a seven division structure – five mechanised (each with two mechanised brigades), one special forces, and one air assault. In 2003, three Corps still existed, each including various combat formations and a maintenance brigade, as well as the I. German/Dutch Corps ,

817-581: The Persian Gulf War . France requested 1,200 Mk82s in 2010 to Société des Ateliers Mécaniques de Pont-sur-Sambre (SAMP) which builds Mk82s under license. Saudi Arabia requested 8,000 Mk82s in 2015, along with guidance kits and other weapons. In August, 2018, a Mark 82 bomb was used for Saudi Arabia's Dahyan air strike in Yemen . Munitions experts confirmed that the numbers on it identified Lockheed Martin as its maker and that this particular Mk82

860-624: The Territorialheer was to maintain the operational freedom of NATO forces through providing rear area defence against saboteurs, enemy special forces, and the like. There were three Territorial Commands ( Territorialkommandos ), including North, South , and Schleswig-Holstein , and up to six Wehrbereichskommandos (WBKs), military regional commands. By 1985 each of the WBKs had two Heimatschutzbrigades (HSBs, home defence brigades). The development of Soviet tactical nuclear weapons required

903-648: The Army was the former Wehrmacht General der Panzertruppe Hans Rottiger , who had been involved in the drafting of the Himmeroder memorandum. The official date of the founding of the army is 12 November 1955 when the first soldiers began their service in Andernach . In 1956 the first troops set up seven training companies in Andernach and began the formation of schools and training centers. On 1 April 1957,

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946-737: The German Army. Since then, the German Army has been employed in peacekeeping operations worldwide and since 2002 also in combat operations in Afghanistan as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force . Following World War II the Allies dissolved the Wehrmacht with all its branches on 20 August 1946. However already one year after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949 and because of its increasing links with

989-878: The West German Heer , while on 1 March 1956 the East German Landstreitkräfte der NVA (Land Forces of the National People's Army) were founded. During the Cold War, the West German Army was fully integrated into NATO 's command structure while the Landstreitkräfte were part of the Warsaw Pact . Following the process of German reunification in 1990, the Landstreitkräfte were partially integrated into

1032-586: The West under German chancellor Konrad Adenauer , the Consultative Assembly of Europe began to consider the formation of a European Defence Community with German participation on 11 August 1950. Former high-ranking Wehrmacht officers outlined in the Himmeroder memorandum a plan for a "German contingent in an international force for the defense of Western Europe." For the German land forces

1075-493: The army move to a purely professional three division structure with a view on creating smaller, more flexible and more deployable units, emphasising global employment against non-state threats such as international terrorism or as part of UN and EU missions. As of January 2022 , the German Army had a strength of 62,766 soldiers. The German Army is commanded by the Inspector of the Army ( Inspekteur des Heeres ) based at

1118-470: The blast and fragmentation effects of its own munitions since the aircraft and ordnance arrive at the target almost simultaneously. To address this issue, the standard Mk82 General-Purpose bomb can be fitted with a special high-drag tail fin unit. In this configuration, it is referred to as the Mk82 Snake Eye. The tail unit has four folded fins that spring open into a cruciform shape when the bomb

1161-431: The blast wave is positive. Tritonal is approximately 18% more powerful than TNT alone. The 87  kg of tritonal in a Mark 82 bomb has the potential to produce approximately 863  MJ of energy when detonated. This implies a specific energy of approximately 9 MJ/kg, compared to ~4 MJ/kg for TNT. TNT was first prepared by Julius Wilbrand in 1863. Germany began manufacturing TNT in 1891 and aluminium

1204-514: The creation of all twelve divisions did not take place until 1965. At the end of 1958 the strength of the army was about 20,200 men. The army was equipped at first with American material, such as the M-47 Patton main battle tank. Three corps commands were formed beginning in 1957: the I Corps, II Corps, and the III Corps . Also in 1957 the "Office for Territorial Defence" was established as

1247-564: The development of a new Army structure even before Army Structure 1 was fully achieved. To minimize the effects of attacks with tactical nuclear weapons on massed forces, the 28,000 strong divisions of the Heer were broken up into smaller and more mobile brigades under Army Structure 2 . These smaller units were also to be capable of self-sustainment on a nuclear battlefield for several days, and to be capable of moving quickly from defense and to attack. The new armoured and mechanised brigades were capable of combined arms combat. Each division

1290-683: The first conscripts arrived for service in the army. The first military organisations created were instructional battalions, officer schools, and the Army Academy, the forerunner to the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr in Hamburg . In total of twelve armoured and infantry divisions were to be established by 1959, as planned in Army Structure I. To achieve this goal existing units were split approximately every six months. However

1333-650: The highest Territorial Army authority. The Office for Territorial Defence was under the direct command of the Federal Ministry of Defence and commanded the Territorial Army (Germany) ( Territorialheer ), a reserve formation. While the Heer along with the Marine and Luftwaffe were firmly integrated into the NATO Military Command Structure, the Territorialheer remained under national command. The main function of

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1376-606: The memorandum envisioned the formation of a 250,000 strong army. The officers saw the need for the formation of twelve Panzer divisions and six corps staffs with accompanying Corps troops, as only armoured divisions could muster a fighting force to throw back the numerically far superior forces of the Warsaw Pact . Theodor Blank was appointed "officer of the Federal Chancellor for the Strengthening of Allied Troops questions". This Defence Ministry forerunner

1419-792: The targeted number of 36 active brigades raised by 1975 while the 2nd and 4th Panzergrenadier divisions were reorganised into Jäger formations. The armies Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) brigades were renamed into Luftlande (airborne) brigades and a third brigade ( Luftlandebrigade 27 ) was formed. Under Army Structure 4 from 1980/81 on, the German Army fielded 12 divisions (with 38 active brigades): six Panzer (armoured), four Panzergrenadier (mechanised), one Luftlande (airborne), and one Gebirgs (alpine) divisions. Ten active divisions were grouped into three corps: I German Corps as part of NATO's Northern Army Group , II German Corps and III German Corps as part of Central Army Group . The remaining heavy division ( 6th Panzergrenadier Division )

1462-639: Was a Paveway, a laser-guided bomb. Along with the heavier Mark 84 bombs, Mark 82 bombs were also supplied for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza . In July 2024, the Biden administration resumed shipments of the 500-pound bombs to Israel, which were halted in May due to concerns about the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza . In low-level bombing, it is possible for the delivering aircraft to sustain damage from

1505-492: Was a partially active and mixed formation, containing a tank company and two mechanised companies. Armoured brigades similarly consisted of one Panzergrenadier and three Panzer battalions, with one armoured battalion being mixed and partially active (containing one mechanised and two tank companies). Mechanised infantry battalions in mechanised brigades typically had one of three companies equipped as motorised infantry with M113 APCs instead of Marder IFVs . After 1990,

1548-597: Was accepted as a replacement for the failed European Defence Community plan. Afterwards the Blank Office was converted to the Defence Ministry and Theodor Blank became the first Defence Minister. The nucleus of army was the so-called V Branch of the Department of Defence. Subdivisions included were VA Leadership and Training, VB Organisation and VC Logistics. The army saw itself explicitly not as

1591-461: Was composed of three brigades. The armoured brigades consisted of an armoured infantry battalion, two armoured battalions, a self-propelled artillery battalion and a supply battalion. The mechanised brigades consisted of a motorised infantry battalion, two mechanised infantry battalions, an armoured battalion, a field artillery battalion and a supply battalion. The motorised brigades consisted of three motorised infantry battalions, an anti-tank battalion,

1634-571: Was continuously downsized from this point. In 1994 III Corps was reorganised as the German Army Forces Command . In 1996, the 25th Airborne Brigade was converted into a new command leading the Army's special forces, known as the Kommando Spezialkräfte . Logistics, CBRN defense , territorial defense and military police units were split off into the newly formed Joint Support Service and medical units into

1677-519: Was first mixed with TNT in 1899 to produce an explosive compound. In 1902, the German Army began to use TNT, replacing picric acid , and in 1912, the US Army also started to use TNT. TNT production was limited by the availability of toluene which came from coal tar. Therefore, mixtures of TNT with other compounds became widespread to relieve the shortage of TNT. Modern tritonal was developed as

1720-711: Was formally disbanded as of 30 June 2001. In peacetime it also commanded the 10th Panzer Division , which was allocated to Eurocorps and which parents the German half of the Franco-German Brigade . The 1st Mountain Division at Munich was also subordinate to this headquarters. The IV Corps was headquartered at Potsdam in eastern Germany and controlled two Panzergrenadier Divisions, the 13th and 14th. The 14th Panzergrenadier Division also took control of units in Western Germany re-subordinated from

1763-414: Was known somewhat euphemistically as the Blank Office ( Amt Blank ), but explicitly used to prepare for the rearmament of West Germany ( Wiederbewaffnung ). By March 1954 the Blank Office had finished plans for a new German army. Plans foresaw the formation of six infantry, four armoured, and two mechanised infantry divisions, as the German contribution to the defense of Western Europe in the framework of

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1806-420: Was part of Allied Forces Baltic Approaches . In peacetime the 1st Airborne Division was assigned to II German Corps with its three brigades to be distributed among the three Corps respectively in wartime, forming a quick reaction reserve. The number of active brigades rose compared to Army Structure 3 due to two Heimatschutz territorial defense brigades (51 and 56) being assigned to the field army as part of

1849-698: Was the official name of the German land forces. Following the German defeat in World War I and the end of the German Empire , the main army was dissolved. From 1921 to 1935 the name of the German land forces was the Reichsheer (Army of the Empire) and from 1935 to 1945 the name Heer was used. The Heer was one of two ground forces of the Third Reich during World War II but, unlike the Heer ,

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