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Germany - wide aspirations
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| 07 November 2006 |
Nicholas Fiorenza JDW's NATO and EU Affairs Correspondent
Brussels
Army
Along with the rest of the armed forces, the army is reorganising into response, stabilisation and support forces. The army will contribute 20,700 troops to the response forces, 36,300 to the stabilisation forces and 25,857 to the support forces. The response forces are designed to conduct peace enforcement operations against a conventional opponent, while the stabilisation forces are earmarked for conflict-prevention and crisis-management operations, including those against asymmetric threats, complemented by special forces, according to Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Hans-Otto Budde.
The response and stabilisation forces will be supported by an air-mobile division and the Division for Special Operations.
Gen Budde identifies the Puma AIFV as one of the army's core modernisation projects.
"In response forces operations, the Puma provides support to rapidly evolving, high-intensity engagements and it can also be employed together with the Leopard 2 in this function. In stabilisation force operations, the Puma is the armoured backbone with an escalation capability." The German Army plans to procure 410 Pumas, with deliveries beginning in 2009. They will equip two reaction and six stabilisation battalions, according to Brigadier General Rainer Kammerer, chief of operations and concepts in the German Army staff.
Air force
The air force is acquiring new aircraft to replace some of the oldest airframes flying in NATO. At the same time, aircraft numbers are being reduced from the current level of 500. Air Force Chief Lieutenant General Peter Stieglitz said at the 50th anniversary of the air force at Rostock-Laage Air Base, on the Baltic coast, in August: "In 2010, there will only be 260 combat aircraft, as well as 100 transport aircraft and 55 helicopters."
The air force is introducing systems that will allow it to conduct and support expeditionary operations. Gen Stieglitz says the activation of its first deployable control and reporting centre (DCRC) in August places the air force "in the position to support the mobile tactical control of air forces beyond Germany's borders".
Navy
The navy is the smallest of the German armed services, even smaller than the medical services. German naval officers complain that, with the decommissioning of some 100 vessels since the Cold War, there is a growing imbalance between platforms and tasks.
At the same time, the new platforms entering service are more capable than those they are replacing, while others are being upgraded. The third F124 frigate entered service during the second quarter of 2006, the second of five K130 corvettes was launched in September and U34, the fourth U212 submarine, is on sea trials and expected to enter service during the first quarter of 2007. The F124 will be equipped with the Standard Missile Two (SM-2).
The F125 frigate development programme has begun and the F122 and F123 frigates are being upgraded.
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© 2006 Jane's Information Group
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