The Bundeswehr (German for "Federal Defence Force") is the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The States of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, since the German Constitution states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the federal governement.

The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung), the federal bureau of procurement (Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung) and the federal bureau for information management and information technology of the Bundeswehr (Bundesamt für Informationsmanagement und Informationstechnik der Bundeswehr, sometimes abbreviated as IT-AmtBw). The military part of the federal defense force consists of Army (Heer), Navy ( Marine), air Force ( Luftwaffe), Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis), and Cenral Medical Services (Zentraler Sanitätsdienst) branches.

As of late 2011, the Bundeswehr currently has 207,247 active troops. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 200,000 reserve personnel. By International agreement, the Bundeswehr may not exceed an active strength of 370,000.

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