Germany is to secure the NATO summit in Vilnius with a Patriot system. Defense Minister Pistorius talks about it with the alliance partners. The problem: The Air Force, which is currently in great demand, is on the edge of its possibilities.
It’s an aerial spectacle that even a defense minister doesn’t get to see every day: The take-off of the A400M transport aircraft with Boris Pistorius on board was not that long ago, when a Eurofighter jet appeared to the right and left of the aircraft. As a kind of steel reception committee.
“That’s impressive to see. You usually only know that from some kind of film,” said the minister in an interview with the ARD Capital Studio. The double escort flies so disturbingly close to the machine that it seems as if you only have to stretch out your arm from the cockpit to touch it.
Escort service for the Secretary of Defense
“The minimum distance you want to keep is one meter. Today we were a little bit further away because it’s just not necessary to fly that close. But it looks impressive enough as it is,” explains Major Christian (whose last name is anonymous is to remain), pilot of one of the two Eurofighters that formed the “escort service” for Boris Pistorius on the way to Rostock-Laage Air Force Base.
The minister was allowed to sit in the cockpit of the A400M and shot souvenir photos out of the windows with his smartphone camera. The fact that the plane sometimes thundered low over the North German lowlands, which was not gentle on the stomach for the occupants, didn’t bother Pistorius: “I don’t get sea or air sick – that’s a huge advantage for the job.”
Already tried and tested in the rescue operation in Sudan
In any case, the Luftwaffe – up in the sky as well as down on the ground – made every effort to impress the minister. After arriving at the base near Rostock, put him in a flight simulator. Displayed much of what it currently has to offer in terms of jets and helicopters in one large square. There was no need for these food for thought to remind the SPD politician how busy the Air Force is at the moment: At the end of April, the Germans took hundreds of people out of Sudan with the A400M, bringing them to safety from the fighting there.
The Bundeswehr uses the Eurofighters to monitor the airspace in the Baltic States. It ensures that Russian jets do not get the idea of approaching NATO territory – which often fly in international airspace without their transponders switched on. “Then NATO goes and says we want to know exactly who is flying in this airspace and identify the other aircraft,” explains Major Christian.
And now secure NATO?
It is quite possible that the Germans will soon have more work to do. From NATO there is a desire, learned that ARD Capital Studiothat the Bundeswehr is helping to secure the Alliance summit in Vilnius in early July with a Patriot anti-aircraft system. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed this when asked. For him, there is no question that this could be done: “Whether we want it and whether we do it depends on the talks we are having with our partners, with NATO.”
The problem: The troops are on the edge of their possibilities as far as their twelve Patriot systems are concerned. The one handed over to the Ukraine is urgently needed there because of the Russian air raids. Others are serviced or repaired. There has been talk for some time about withdrawing the German Patriots from Slovakia. Pistorius announced that there would be clarity in the next two weeks.
Germany hosts a major laying exercise
It’s no secret that the troops have so far been basically blank given the very long range, when defending against rockets from space at an altitude of more than 100 kilometers. The Israeli Arrow 3 system is being purchased for this purpose, and the agreement is about to turn into the home stretch: “In the second half of the year we should get ink there,” says Pistorius.
As far as the near future is concerned, as early as June Germany will be hosting the largest air force relocation exercise since the founding of NATO – more than 220 aircraft from 25 nations will then be flying in German airspace as part of “Air Defender 2023”. A maneuver that is much more complex to organize for the Air Force than a ministerial visit.