“We will get 140 Puma armoured infantry vehicles in 2018/19 … as well as 70 Boxer infantry fighting vehicles and nearly 100 Fuchs tank transporters. “In coming years, the army will receive over a hundred new tanks, another hundred will be brought up to the latest stand,” von der Leyen said. Seventy-five years after the crimes it committed in World War II, the German ruling class is once again constructing a powerful force of tanks for the anticipated wars and great power conflicts of the 21st century. There have been gaps and empty structures and we are filling them again.” Over many, many years, if not decades, national and alliance defence has been neglected. That’s “one reason why we are investing heavily. Germany’s “Panzer Force” was “the backbone of the army” and “bore the main responsibility for national and alliance defence,” von der Leyen continued. “Now, for the first time in many decades the Bundeswehr is growing and a new tank battalion is being established.” “Since the reunification (of Germany) and for the past 25 years, the Bundeswehr has only shrunk in size and repeatedly dismantled tank battalions,” the defence minister announced. The expansion of tank divisions is part of Germany’s comprehensive plans for the upgrading of its military forces. She announced, “We will set up another new tank battalion in 2019.” It is to be stationed in Hardheim in Baden-Württemberg and involve over 500 new personnel. The official army (Bundeswehr) video shows von der Leyen addressing her troops in front of an armada of battle tanks and soldiers. “Today is a good day for the troops of the tank division,” she declared at the Munster army training ground in Lüneburg Heath. On December 6, the German defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the deployment of a new tank battalion.