Cost of Belgian Fortification System

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r/t/s
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Cost of Belgian Fortification System

#1

Post by r/t/s » 25 Dec 2015, 20:29

Greetings, Sirs!

In a struggle to get a bigger picture of things, I put together the following summary on the cost of the Belgian plan in 1935/6 to modernise and expand their fortification system. I’m no enthusiast of the subject, so feel absolutely free to criticize. Let’s see…

Vue d'ensemble du système fortificatif belge vers 1935

André Gany . 1984 . Bulletin du CLHAM, Tome II, Fascicule 6 . http://old.clham.org/050181.htm

This synthesis was prepared by a section of the General Staff of the Belgian Army circa 1935-1936. [My translation]

1. Défense permanente de la frontière de l'Est : BEF 290.75 M
a. La situation à l'Est des provinces de Liège et de Luxembourg : BEF 6 M
b. La position fortifiée de Liège (P.F.L.) : BEF 271.85 M
c. La situation dans les provinces de Limbourg et d'Anvers : BEF 8.9 M
d. La situation entre Liège et la frontière française : BEF 4 M

2. La position fortifiée de Namur (P.F.N.) : BEF 54.45 M
a. Les forts … : BEF 42.5 M
b. La ligne d'abris … : BEF 5.7 M
c. Les abris contre l'irruption … : BEF 1.25 M
d. Un réseau téléphonique … : BEF 5 M

3. La position fortifiée d'Anvers (P.F.A.) : BEF 5 M
4. Le réduit national : X
5. La tête de pont de Gand : BEF 20 M
6. La position semi-permanente Anvers-Namur : X

Total without armament : BEF 370.2 M

In summary, all the permanent defensive organisations described above are nearing completion. With regard to engineering work, Fort Eben-Emael is almost completed, Battice is likely to be completed by the end of 1936, Pepinster and Neufchâteau by mid-1937, and Sougné-Remouchamps by late 1937. The line of bunkers on the Meuse between Liège and the French border will be completed towards the end of 1936. Finally, the last bunkers in the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg and of the P.F.L., whose construction depends on the progress of work by the [Administration of] Bridges and Motorways, are hopefully completed in 1937. All these defensive works will cost nearly 400 million, not including armament. [My translation]

Some thoughts

In comparison, using an exchange rate of RM 1 : BEF 12.50 from http://www.panzerworld.com and their production cost data, BEF 370,200,000 can buy:
423,000 x Kar 98 k - unit cost RM 70 / BEF 875
90,500 x leMG 34 - RM 327 / BEF 4,087.50 - equivalent of FM Browning-FN Mle 30
5,160 x 3,7cm Pak 35/36 - RM 5,730 / BEF 71,625 - equivalent of C. 47 FRC Mle 31
766 x PzKpfw I B - with 2 MG 34: RM 38,624 / BEF 482,800 - roughly equivalent of VCL T. 15
562 x PzKpfw II B - RM 52,640 / BEF 658,000
320 x StuG III early - with 7,5cm StuK L/24 and 2 MG 34: RM 92,274 / BEF 1,153,425
0.41 x KMS Bismarck - RM 71,642,000 / BEF 895,525,000 - according to Schiff Classic 2015/4

The Belgian “battleship on land” was expensive - but not so much as a true battleship!

The unit costs are for German weapons and for German industry and economy which makes their comparison (using a 1942 exchange rate) with Belgian data (from 1935/6) very speculative and unreliable. I’d set the error margin at +/- 50 % for individual unit costs in BEF.

Combining data from http://www.panzerworld.com/currency-exchange-rates with that of http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/exchange.html, we get that in 1939 French Franc had an exchange rate of RM 1 : FF 15.936 and in 1942 RM 1 : FF 20, marking a devaluation of 25.5 %. If we assume the same case for Belgian Franc, we should use a rate of RM 1 : BEF 9.3125 for pre-occupation data. On the other hand, we should expect lower unit costs for German war-time industry than for their pre-war Belgian counterpart, and use a higher rate, not lower. Maybe the two roughly cancel each other out, and RM 1 : BEF 12.50 isn’t too bad.

There’s a discussion at http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=6901 about exchange rates. See what they found out there.

Despite its faults, the comparison does provide some idea of what large-scale fortification works cost. Was the money well spent? Or for that matter, was the Bismarck worth of 179 Tigers (price tag RM 399,800)? Please feel free to comment.

Many thanks to Centre Liégeois d'Histoire et d'Archéologie Militaires and Panzerworld for publishing their valuable data!

Happy New Year to all AHF Members and visitors,
RTS

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r/t/s
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Re: Cost of Belgian Fortification System

#2

Post by r/t/s » 27 Dec 2015, 16:16

According Schiff Classic, the Bismarck cost RM 71.6 M (net in 22-03-1941), or € 316.5 M in 2015 money. That gives us a useful conversion rate RM1941 1 : €2015 4.418. Using the rate RM 1 : BEF 12.50, we get BEF1942 1 : €2015 0.353 and the cost of Belgian Fortification System modernisation 1935/6 in today’s money: € 130 M.

The Tiger I tank’s production cost (as given at http://www.panzerworld.com) was RM 399,800, or € 1,766,000. How much does the Leopard 2 MBT cost? I don’t know much about cost of modern ordnance, so if you do, please post here.

I made an oops with the calculations earlier when I said that Belgian Franc was devaluated from RM 1 : BEF 9.3125. The correct rate is RM 1 : BEF 9.96. Sorry about that.

It’s off-topic, but here’s the short article in German:

Was kostet ein Schlachtschiff? Oder genauer, wie viel hat das berühmteste deutsche Schlachtschiff, die BISMARCK, gekostet? Als mit einer geheimen Verfügung des Oberkommandos der Kriegsmarine der Neubau bei Blohm & Voss in Hamburg am 16. November 1935 bestellt wurde, ging es noch nicht um einen Preis. Der kam erst mit dem Angebot der Werft im Mai 1940 auf den Tisch und musste danach mit den Marinestellen als „vereinbarter Festpreis“ ausgehandelt werden. 71.642.000 Reichsmark netto stand dann auf der Rechnung vom 22. März 1941 – heute so um die 316,5 Millionen Euro. Bis zum Untergang der BISMARCK am 27. Mai 1941 blieben noch 67 Tage Zahlungsziel. [Schiff Classic Magazin für Schifffahrts- und Marinegeschichte . 2015/4 . GeraMond . ISSN 2196-7490]


ljadw
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Re: Cost of Belgian Fortification System

#3

Post by ljadw » 27 Dec 2015, 22:53

Of course,the Bismarck was worth the price of 179 Tigers (not : 179 Tigers) : the Bismarck was built before the Tigers were built,and it is NOT so that without the construction of the Bismarck,179 Tigers could be built : the firms who built the Bismarck could not build ONE Tiger and those whole built the Tigers could not build the Bismarck .

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