A shipment of six US army tanks was on its way from Poland to Germany when police in Saxony ordered it to pull over. Upon inspecting the cargo, they noticed more than just one violation of the rules of the road.
On Wednesday the trial began in Hesse of a man who imported two tanks to Germany without first disarming them. The vehicles were later bought by a celebrity fashion designer.
The crisis in Ukraine is prompting a rethink of equipment plans at the Defence Ministry, with officials considering outfitting troops with more battle tanks.
An elderly couple in Paderborn got a shock on Tuesday morning when they opened the curtains to discover their fence and hedges crushed by a British army tank.
Germany's weapons industry is booming, and even the vice chancellor's attempt to stop selling tanks to the Saudis is a minor concession for the world's third biggest arms exporter. But the trade is destabilizing security.
The German government has given the go-ahead for the sale of 164 tanks to Indonesia. Some fear the controversial deal will mean vehicles used in domestic conflict with ethnic minority groups, it emerged late on Tuesday.
The German government has already agreed "in principle" to sell 30 German Dingo 2 armoured vehicles worth about €100 million to Saudi Arabia, it was reported Sunday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel did not rule out selling tanks to the Indonesian government, while on a trip there talking with top politicians there about close political and economic cooperation.
Being the world's third biggest arms exporter did not prevent Germany from joining France, Britain and Sweden to call on the United Nations to draw up a new arms trade treaty to reduce what they called "a growing threat to humanity."
A group of activists has offered a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the German arms manufacturers reportedly planning to deliver up to 800 tanks to Saudi Arabia - and sent one of the company's owners a bullet by post.
Faced with drastic budget cuts, the British army is considering sending hundreds of tanks across the Rhine - for the first time in 67 years - as it sells off land in the UK to save money.
Old T-55 Soviet tanks still rumble through the eastern German countryside in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes. But they pose no threat to the world order as we know it, writes AFP's Arnaud Bouvier.
