For the past two weeks, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has been finding out about the operational capability of the Bundeswehr during visits to troops. On Friday, at Tactical Air Force Squadron 74 in Neuburg an der Donau, there was really bad news for the minister: the entire fighter jet fleet consisted of Eurofighters and tornadoes can only be used to a very limited extent. The ejection seat manufacturer has reported quality problems with cartridges that are installed in it, said an Air Force spokesman. Accordingly, there is a suspicion that 20 percent of the cartridges are defective. Now all jets with ejection seats must be checked.
This has concrete consequences for Lambrecht’s visit to Neuburg. The squadron is one Eurofighter-Association. The plan was for the jets to fly maneuvers so that the minister could get an idea of the pilots’ task. However, the demonstration is cancelled, and the training company for the machines is also suspended for the time being. The Luftwaffe has almost 140 Eurofighter and about 90 more tornadoes. Only the tasks that are absolutely necessary would be continued with the planes. A spokesman said: “We maintain the alliance commitments”.
The pilots and their machine from Neuburg, for example, are regularly deployed on NATO’s eastern flank, together with partner nations they monitor the airspace there. After Russia’s troops invaded Ukraine, they are faced with even more challenges: the Air Force had sent three additional fighter jets to Romania in February. In addition, the squadron provides one of two alarm squads to protect the airspace in Germany. They get up in 15 minutes at the latest, for example if planes cannot be reached by radio and it is necessary to clarify what is going on. Terrorists could have taken control of machines. Despite the problems, the Air Force continues to pursue these tasks.
Lambrecht gets an impression of how much the Bundeswehr is struggling with operational readiness
But as if that weren’t enough, the pilots and their machines are soon to embark on a journey to the other end of the world – to the Indo-Pacific region. “Rapid Pacific” is the name of the laying exercise. The Air Force is scheduled to be on the move for six weeks, from mid-August to early October, during which time it will participate with partner nations in Australia in exercises dubbed Pitch Black and Kakadu. The Air Force wants to try to fix the ejection seat problems as soon as possible.
On her summer trip, Lambrecht gets an impression of how much the Bundeswehr struggles with operational readiness, especially when unforeseen problems arise. The visit on Friday served to explore limits: what can the troops achieve?
The many years in which savings were made in the Bundeswehr have left deep scars. The army, for example, is no longer able to relocate a task force on the fly; this has to be planned thoroughly. The navy suffers from ever-long dockyard times for its ships, which are few in number anyway. The Air Force? Five years ago, not even half of the 140 or so Eurofighter ready to use. The newly developed transport plane A400M struggled with major technical problems.
The Luftwaffe should show that Germany is serious about its commitment to the Indo-Pacific
Now the Air Force dares to do something: they want to send 13 aircraft on the long journey, six of them Eurofighterfour A400M, three tankers. They are to cover a distance of more than 22,000 kilometers to Australia, with stopovers in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore and refueling in the air. Detours for short visits are planned in Japan and South Korea. Air Force Inspector Ingo Gerhartz even wants to make the outbound flight from Neuburg to Singapore in 24 hours. “An operational air force must be able to do that,” explained Gerhartz. on Friday.
The Air Force is continuing what the Navy began last year: China’s growing claims to power had prompted the previous government to lend more support to partner nations in the Indo-Pacific such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. With the frigate Bavaria For the first time in 20 years, she sent a warship to the region, which took part in large-scale exercises and completed port visits. But the Navy doesn’t have enough ships to cruise there all the time. It was a feat of strength to be without the frigate for half a year at all.
Now the Luftwaffe should show that Germany is really serious about its commitment in the Indo-Pacific. The pressure on the association in Neuburg has even increased significantly these days with the problems with the ejection seat.