The Bundeswehr is creating a new large unit, the Territorial Defense Division. This was reported by UNN with reference to DW and dpa.
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According to media reports, in April 2024, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius presented a new structure for the Bundeswehr. According to him, it is needed to strengthen the country's defense capabilities. Among other things, it provides for the reorganization and expansion of territorial reserves.
Currently, they include four territorial defense regiments (Heimatschutzregiment). They have only reservists. They are subordinated to the command in a particular region of Germany.
According to the new plans, the Bundeswehr will form six terrorist defense regiments with a total of approximately 6,000 men in Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and North Rhine-Westphalia. They will be united into a new territorial defense division. Both reservists and active military personnel will serve there.
Starting April 1, the Territorial Defense Forces (Heimatschutzkräfte) will be directly subordinated to the Army (Heer). Currently, they consist of only three divisions: two tank divisions (1st and 10th) and a division of rapid response forces. About 20,000 people serve in each. The territorial defense division will be the fourth.
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The publication notes that the task of the new unit will be to protect critical facilities within Germany, such as ports, rail facilities, cargo transshipment points, pipelines, roads, bridges, transport interchanges, and digital infrastructure. In peacetime, the territorial defense division can be called upon to help in the event of accidents, terrorist attacks, or a pandemic.
According to the dpa news agency, the plan to create a territorial defense division is also based on the assumption that three other divisions of the Army could be redeployed to NATO's eastern flank, for example, to Poland, Lithuania or Estonia, to deter or repel military aggression. In that case, Germany would need reliable protection in the rear.