Europeans seem willing to spend on defense again. But Europeans don't seem as willing to fight for their defense again. Materiel without men is just a lot of stuff the enemy captures.
Yes:
The exceedingly slow recovery of the German army is especially frustrating because Nato is not actually short of air or naval forces. What it lacks are ground forces, soldiers more simply, or rather soldiers actually willing to fight.
Germany isn't the only laggard. And Poland can't do it all. But Germany as the strongest economy should be the European leader in ground force rearmament.
Europeans have to fix their weak defenses on a broad front. NATO already has air and naval superiority over Russia. Ground forces and the ability to sustain them in combat are the most vital weaknesses to address. Yet the Europeans seem to prefer to invest in anything but ground forces.
This weakness is why I proposed (in this Army article) Army Cadre Brigade Combat Teams to aggregate the tiny bits of European NATO ground forces into meaningful maneuver brigades. That isn't the solution to Europe's ground force shortage. But it would be better than nothing and would help fill the gap in capabilities.
Capabilities the Germans don't seem eager to provide the manpower to staff.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: You may also like to read my posts on Substack, at The Dignified Rant: Evolved. Go ahead and subscribe to it. It's the right thing to do!
NOTE: Photo from my Army article.
