defense
Luftwaffe maneuvers over Germany also signal to Putin
An Airbus A400M of the Bundeswehr Air Force with the special “Air Defender 2023” livery lands at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Around 2000 missions by 250 military aircraft from 25 nations: From Monday onwards, the airspace over Germany will be tight during the major maneuver “Air Defender 23”.
The largest air force maneuver in NATO history is also intended to send a signal of strength to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was made clear by US Ambassador Amy Gutmann on Wednesday at a press conference on the “Air Defender 23” exercise led by the German Air Force, which begins next Monday and lasts ten days. “I would be very surprised if any world leader didn’t take note of what this (the maneuver) shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, that is, the strength of this alliance. And that includes Mr. Putin,” said Gutman.
There are still different assessments of the adverse effects on civil air traffic in German airspace caused by the manoeuvre. “It will be a matter of minutes at most,” said the inspector of the German Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, about possible flight delays. He also emphasized that the exercise takes place before the school holidays and thus before the big holiday wave. The director of the US National Guard, Michael Loh, does not expect any major effects on civil air traffic. “We expect minimal disruption,” he said.
There are other predictions as well
The air traffic controllers’ union GdF had previously made a different forecast. “The military exercise “Air Defender” will of course have a massive impact on the course of civil aviation,” said its chairman Matthias Maas of the German Press Agency. He referred to a scenario calculated by the European air traffic control organization Eurocontrol, which shows up to 50,000 minutes of delay per day of maneuver.
The airport association ADV also expects significant impairments. President Stefan Schulte pointed out that “large blocks of airspace for several hours would be reserved for the military” for the exercise. “Despite all the preparatory measures taken by air traffic control, airlines and airports to keep the disruption to a minimum, we cannot currently rule out the possibility of significant delays in civil air traffic and flight cancellations.”
25 countries – mainly from NATO – are involved in the maneuver with 250 aircraft and almost 10,000 soldiers. About 2000 flights are planned. Gutmann expressly acknowledged Germany’s leadership role in “Air Defender 23”: “It’s incredibly important. We’re incredibly grateful.”
Security “not for free”
The idea for the maneuver came up in 2018 – after the Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, but long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gerhartz asked for understanding of the military importance that such exercises would have for the air force. “Security doesn’t come for free,” he said of the associated impairments and costs. However, he was not yet able to quantify exactly how much taxpayer money is being invested in this.
Criticism of the maneuver comes from the opposition. “I doubt that NATO will make much of an impression on the Russian leadership with this superlative demonstration of power,” said the left-wing faction’s foreign policy spokesman, Gregor Gysi. “Even the maneuvers that preceded NATO 2021 did not stop Putin from invading Ukraine a few months later.” Gysi means the maneuvers of the land forces “Defender Europe 21” led by the USA two years ago.