The Tragedy of the Commons

Europe doesn't build enough hardware, maintain enough hardware, or let their troops train enough on their hardware to make many of Europe's troops more than glorified riot control police. So now they won't do enough cooperatively? That will work out just swell.

On the surface, this could work:

In signing ceremonies at NATO, defense ministers from France and Germany said they will buy Lockheed Martin C-130J transport planes, while Germany, Belgium and Norway will join a Netherlands-led fleet of Airbus A330 tanker planes.

Buying in bulk should lower prices.

But will operating cooperatively reduce costs or just result in the tragedy of the commons for the A330, with nobody with an ownership interest in maintaining the capability?

This is interesting, however:

Germany also agreed joint training and deployments of land forces with the Czech Republic and Romania, with both countries set to provide a brigade of several thousand troops for a larger division under German leadership.

Smaller NATO countries will group smaller units into a brigade that will fight under a German division.

We're getting closer to some European states providing tribal auxiliaries to the more capable European powers--not for American units.