Andreas Schwarz suspected early on that something could go wrong. Just six days after the award to the Rohde & Schwarz company, the SPD budget expert asked the Ministry of Defense nine probing questions and is still waiting for a convincing answer to this day. On December 14, 2022, while Christine Lambrecht (SPD) was still in office, the contract for the purchase of digital radio equipment for the Bundeswehr was signed with an initial volume of 1.3 billion euros, with the option for at least another 1.5 billion. But the case is now also giving Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) a headache. Because it is unclear whether the devices can be used as planned, especially in the NATO alliance.
To “digitize land-based operations,” the Bundeswehr wants to equip up to 34,000 vehicles with digital radio devices. Now the newspaper reported Worldthat they cannot be installed and are stored in depots. It’s about adapter plates, battery capacities that are too low, alternators that are too small. Are the devices even gathering dust in the depot?
For the Bundeswehr, it is about complying with its NATO obligations
Pistorius will also pursue the topic during his visit to Latvia on Monday. At a press conference with his counterpart in Riga, he reacted somewhat angrily to the report. “Nothing rots and nothing gathers dust,” says the SPD politician.
Only around 400 devices have arrived and are now in the depots. Procurement as such is not in question here. If it was said that the wrong radios had been purchased, “then the report couldn’t be more wrong.” There will be no damage here. “The only problem is the delay.”
Pistorius’ ministry admits that the installation will be much more complicated than expected. “The effort required for sample and series integration into the vehicles is considerable and can only be achieved in cooperation with the defense industry,” emphasizes a spokesman. The votes were taken to say that the timing of implementation “essentially depends on the performance of the defense industry”.
The war in Ukraine is currently showing how important digital networking and information superiority are. This requires real-time situation reports, also with the help of powerful digital command systems, emphasizes the Bundeswehr. The federal government has promised NATO that it will provide a fully operational army division with around 15,000 soldiers from 2025 – it is crucial that digital communication in tanks and combat vehicles also works with the units of other NATO states, keyword compatibility.
Really just a timing issue? Minister Pistorius is coming under pressure
The response from the Ministry of Defense, which the SPD budget expert Schwarz received, also shows that there is an urgent need to purchase new radio equipment. In December 2022 he wanted to know why the contract had been awarded in a rush, and the French company Thales is suing. The ministry then said that there had been no regular tendering process because the need had increased massively as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. So we had to hurry. Also because Germany is taking on more NATO tasks. In addition, due to the “current market situation,” one would have had to expect “a change in costs in the form of a price increase.”
But Schwarz fears that the problem is only just beginning. “Due to these delays in acceptance and assembly, we will not be able to fulfill our NATO obligations by 2025,” he said when asked South German newspaper. Schwarz therefore warns against retrieving larger quantities of devices now without knowing whether installation is secure. “And even if the devices were installed, they are not technically up to the standard that would allow us to communicate with NATO partners,” fears Schwarz.
It is a test for the survey king Pistorius – he will now also be judged by whether the problem is really just a temporary one.