We live in times where new opportunity windows are open even for individual persons. In no other era in history one was able to bring individual knowledge to the benefit for mankind in a way we experience today. One example is Ireland’s first satellite programme that is about to be launched. It was developed by…
Since the Berlin Security Conference (BSC) is a major European and transatlantic event, Behörden Spiegel decided to invite prominent personalities from EU, NATO and selected nations to support the congress. These Board Members give advice to the organizer, e.g., with regard to the subject of the programme and national / international speakers. Their portraits on…
Bundeswehr has a few systems left for air defence. For example only two MANTIS, a system for close-range protection, were procured in recent years. But nowadays air defence with more or less stationary systems gains importance, not only for Bundeswehr. MANTIS can cover a 360-degree radius of three kilometres and thus protect not only field…
NATO collects defense expenditure data from Allies and publishes it on a regular basis. The definitions set by NATO may differ from those by member states and the media. Each Ally’s Ministry of Defense reports current and estimated future defense expenditure according to an agreed definition. The amounts represent payments by a national government…
“The first projects are on their way. But by 2022, our soldiers had not received a single cent from the Bundeswehr special fund. Procurement is too slow. The troop’s workbooks have become fuller, but the clothing, ammunition and spare parts depots have not,” states Dr Eva Högl, German Bundestag’s Commissioner for the Armed Forces, in…
Lieutenant General Carsten Breuer will be the next highest-ranking soldier of the Bundeswehr. It is common for the position Chief of Defence to be filled when there is a change of government and it was clearly a sign of appreciation that the actual Chief of Defence, General Eberhard Zorn, survived the last change of government…
“You are to think that the reports that the United States Government had anything to do with the undersea blast against the Nord Stream pipelines is ridiculous. We can discount that out of hand,” says U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price. Price also expresses doubts about the other recent allegations of guilt. ” The anonymous…
Last week, Budget Committee of German Bundestag approved the call-off of soldiers’ radios within the framework agreement on Software Defined Radios (SDR) with Elbit Systems. Following a public call for tenders, German Bundestag had already approved conclusion of the corresponding framework agreement between Elbit consortium, consisting of Elbit Systems Germany, its Israeli parent company and…
This year, the Berlin Security Conference 2023 will take place again in the Vienna Andel’s Hotel in Berlin from 29th to 30th of November. After a very successful BSC 2022 it will be our aim to bringing together senior political leadership and executive military from Europe and her transatlantic allies to discuss current strategic developments…
The difference between target inventory and operational ready systems has been significant in Germany, not only in the case of main battle tanks, even before war in Ukraine started. Due to outsourcing of logistic support maintenance periods have become too long, according to reports from the Bundeswehr. As a result, the planned handing over of…
Since the fall of 2022, the German Armed Forces have maintained a combat brigade to defend Lithuania. To fasten the ties between the two nations, about 600 members of the Bundeswehr participate in a joint military exercise in Pabradė. The brigade’s liaison element is permanently stationed in Rukla. At the Pabrade military training area in…
Germany will not only deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine but also enable the soldiers to actually use the weaponry in combat. For this purpose Ukrainian Soldiers joined their German and Dutch colleagues in the city of Munster. The main goal of the operation is to teach the Ukrainian forces how to manoeuvre the tank,…
Austria will invest around €560 million in innovations for its armoured force, Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner announced on February 23. In this context, GDELS-Steyr was commissioned with service life extension of the Ulan infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), which has been in service in the Austrian Armed Forces since 2002. Modernisation includes major overhaul and exchange…
Ukraine needs secure borders. Therefore the border section along the border with Russia and Belarus will be extended to two kilometres and mined. According to Ukrainian State Border Service, this change is provided for by law. In addition to these fixed borders, however, areas must be temporarily secured in the course of liberating occupied territories.…
In his State of the Union address, President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would no longer participate in the NEW START treaty. This suspends the last nuclear weapons protocol between the United States and Russia. The New START treaty envisages caps on the number of nuclear weapons and broad inspections of nuclear sites.The treaty went…
Energy self-sufficiency of field camps has always been a goal of military forces and housekeepers. After all, logistics chains are vulnerable, complex and expensive. But given the austerity measures of recent decades, there has often simply been a lack of funds to set up appropriate research projects for the military on the necessary scale. The…
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the importance of a comprehensive defense capability against the full spectrum of military threats. Russia is deploying unmanned systems, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles in Ukraine many times. This highlights the importance of an effective air defense capability to counter future threats. With the European…
Sixteen NATO countries, along with invited countries Finland and Sweden, have launched a new initiative. This is designed to transform the way NATO collects and uses data from space, significantly improve NATO’s intelligence and surveillance work, and support NATO’s military missions and operations. The initiative, called Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS), consists of establishing…
The German Ministry of Defense has awarded Rheinmetall a contract on behalf of Ukraine to supply 35mm ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft gun tank. The Ukrainian Forces will receive a total of 300,000 rounds. The main goal of the ammunition is to support the Ukrainian armed forces. These forces are using the Gepard in the…
The “Zeitenwende” is more than just a word. It is an instruction that needs to be convertred into armaments efforts, cohesion, a comprehensive approach, defence strategy and national security policy. Major General (ret.) Reinhard Wolski, chairman of the Berlin Security Conference, summarizes the discussions throughout the event on the Blue Sofa. Watch the entire interview…
There is a lot of confusion around what the German “Zeitenwende” actually means. MP and BSC congress president Wolfang Hellmich visited our Blue Sofa and talked on speed and aquisition in the context of the special funds earmarked for the German armed forces and the legal hurdles that go along with it. As well as…
Paid by the Bundeswehr Special Fund, Bundeswehr Medical Service is receiving new airborne mobile rescue centres. Among other equipment the light medical facilities, in which emergency medical and surgical first aid is provided to patients, have an ambulance, an operating theater and intensive care capacities. Last week, German procurement agency BAAINBw commissioned the company M.…
The special fund of €100 billion is a statement and symbolic number for the will of German government to transfer Bundeswehr into a capable and empowered armed force again. After more than a decade of cost-cutting, which was named focus on deployment, capability for national and alliance defence is at stake. Shortage within Bundeswehr starts…
NATO’s strategic concept, which has been resolved in Madrid, focuses on collective defence and regional responsibility. With this it heralds a shift of paradigm. Rightfully so, says General (ret.) Jörg Vollmer, Strategic Advisor for the BSC and Behörden Spiegel. In this shift the European section of NATO needs significantly increase it’s contribution to European Defence…
In the event of war, Germany makes up an important transit country. The necessary competences and forces for this, need to be carried by society as a whole. Lieutenant General Martin Schelleis, Chief of the German Joint Support and Enabling Service, emphasizes the current tasks for the German Joint Support and Enabling Service on the…
The Norwegian government announced that it is procuring 54 Leopard 2 A7 for the Norwegian armed forces. The German Leopard thus prevailed against competition from South Korea, among others. First of these new battle tanks are to be delivered to Norway as early as 2026. “The new tanks will increase combat power of our armed…
More than 130 obstructions were caused by drones at Germany’s airports in 2022. The use of these often very small systems – especially by individuals – continues to increase. Now the Bundeswehr University in Hamburg has developed a drone that can intercept unauthorised drones at airports. The system was developed as part of FALKE research…
Britain’s new Ajax armoured vehicle is back on track. “We have turned a corner,” UK’s Minister of State for Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence, Alex Chalk, told the Commons Defence Committee. “A great deal of work has taken place and it has successfully completed its trials.” As recently as the end of December,…
Berlin Security Conference (BSC) 2022 was a big success. The Conference was particularly focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both with regard to the main programme and the panel discussions. But the lines of action in NATO’s new Strategic Concept and relations with the EU’s Strategic Compass were also key points in our talks and…
Ukraine’s fight for freedom is supported by almost every democracy in the world, with money, humanitarian assistance and military equipment. Weapon systems from Sweden have been quite successful in fighting off Russian invasion. Micael Johansson, CEO Saab AB, Sweden talks about changes for industry in a country joining NATO, about the performance of Saab’s weapons…
Hensoldt has agreed to cooperate with the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Technology FHR with the aim of transforming the technology demonstrator GESTRA (German Experimental Space Surveillance and Tracking Radar) into a series-production ready, operationally deployable system called Custodian. “Based on the GESTRA technology, a global network of ground-based radar systems can…
Silvia Petig, Head of Women In International Security (WIIS) Germany, speaks about the origin and contribution of the network to the role of woman in security. WIIS was established in the mid-1980s in the United States by Madeleine Albright. In Germany, the association was created as late as 2003 and membership numbers have doubled since…
Andreas Hannemann, second in Command of the I. german-dutch Corps of the Bundeswehr speaks about leading position the corps takes in 2023 at the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF). He states that since the beginning of the war in Ukraine the major change occurred in their mind, since the threat and tasks…
Timothy Flood, Director Boeing Defense and Space, talks about capabilities P-8A Poseidon will bring to the German Navy, the plan to partner with German industry to support Germany’s CH-47F Block II Chinook fleet in-country and the impact digital technologies have on warfighting capabilities in the future.
The symposium “Prospects for Defence Industry” of the German Society for Defence Technology (DWT) ended yesterday. During these two days speakers provided well-founded insights into the current material and procurement situation of Bundeswehr. “The problem of ammunition is most urgent,” said Hubert Blahnik, Deputy Head of Equipment Department, German Ministry of Defence. At the same…
Frank Leidenberger, chief digital officerat BWI, talks about the state of digitisation in the Bundeswehr. He explains that the goals set in 2017 have not been achieved yet. He continues by naming 2 reasons for this being the case. First, he states that money was and is a key problem because even with the large…
Lieutenant General Dr Ansgar Rieks, Vice Chief of German Air Force, talks about the next generation weapon system (NGWS) and the future combat air system (FCAS). He explains that there are two key components to realise this project: First there must be the operative idea that was born to combat an enemy with immense anti…
In a visit to Berlin this Tuesday NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked Defence Minister Boris Pistorius for Germany’s significant contributions to NATO and strong support to Ukraine. Stoltenberg praised Germany’s considerable contributions to NATO deterrence and defence at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused the greatest challenges for our security in…
Today, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany will supply Leopard 2 main battle tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces. He said this was the result of intensive consultations between Germany and its closest European and international partners. “This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability,” said Chancellor…
Technology is ready for “Third Wave Artificial Intelligence”, specialists say. After First Wave, where humans programmed the what-if-algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) simply used these, and Second Wave, where humans fed AI with data and it found statistical correlations by itself, Third Wave aims to develop an AI that is not restricted to one specific…
Bundeswehr is – finally, after a long procurement process – getting a new standard assault rifle. Yesterday, representatives of the management of manufacturer Heckler & Koch and project managers of BAAINBw met at the German procurement agency BAAINBw in Koblenz to finalise last contractual details. From 2026, Bundeswehr will receive G95A1 assault rifle as a…
Marc Akkermann, head of the capital city office at infodas, speaks about how cross-divisional cooperation and communication in different security branches can be achieved. In his first answer he stated, that there were some branches that have been opened to interdivisional information and security exchange, but there are still larger security silos that need to…
Major General (MD) Dr Stephan Schoeps, Deputy Surgeon General of the Bundeswehr, speaks about the high quality in healthcare personnel at the Bundeswehr that was established in the 1990’s and the switch in structure that is currently being planed and worked towards. The goal is to create a paramedic division. A task that comes with…
U.S. Army continues to enhance their Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations (CROWS). A 5 year frame contract has been awarded to American Rheinmetall Systems. Within this contract precision subsystems including high-definition image stabilized EO sensors (day cameras), weapon mounts and other critical assemblies can be delivered to support the Army’s CROWS Program. CROWS systems allow…
As part of modernization of the French Air and Space Force a contract to upgrade the avionics on French CN-235 tactical transport and logistics aircraft has been awarded to a consortium formed by Sabena technics and Thales. The 27 twin-turboprop aircraft will be upgraded with state-of-the-art avionics to allow integration into general air traffic, significantly…
Yesterday, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned, and today Chancellor Olaf Scholz appointed Boris Pistorius (62), the long-serving Minister of the Interior of Lower Saxony, as her successor. On Thursday, Pistorius will receive his certificate of appointment from the German President and take his oath of office in the German Bundestag. “I am very pleased…
A new era, changing era or – in German – Zeitenwende is needed in Germany. And it is needed on several levels: strategically and mentally. This was emphasised by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at last year’s Berlin Security Conference (BSC). German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed the dawning of a new era at last year’s Berlin…
Hungary was launch customer for the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) developed by Rheinmetall on the basis of Puma expertise. The Hungarian Ministry of Defence ordered a total of 209 Lynx in seven variants in September 2020, delivery of the first IFV from Hungarian production is scheduled to begin this year. The first German-built Lynx…
United Kingdom will probably be the first nation to supply Western-produced main battle tanks to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a telephone conversation. Zelenskyy thanked him afterwards on Twitter: ” Always strong support of the UK is now impenetrable and ready…
Russia’s attack on Ukraine will soon enter its second year. This unprovoked attack has led to a reassessment and a change in security thinking across Europe and the world. It is a war in the middle of Europe in a time when most people thought, that an aera of peace, understanding and respect has started.…
European Defence Agency (EDA) launched a new project to improve technology on automatic targeting on January 13, 2023. The project also includes threat recognition and identification to enhance battlefield effectiveness. “Automatic target/threat recognition, identification and targeting for land systems (ATRIT) can help militaries in detecting, tracking, prioritising and selecting targets, whether off the top of…
Last week, Israeli company Rafael and German company Hensoldt signed a cooperation agreement to enable German Eurofighters for electronic warfare. Rafael announced: “Together, we endeavor to provide the Sky Shield airborne electronic warfare pod as a mature off-the-shelf Escort Jammer (ESJ) developed by Rafael, enhanced with the latest airborne electronic attack technology (KALÆTRON Attack) by…
Last week, Budget Committee of the German Bundestag released the funds for two projects. Accordingly, around 7.5 million euros are available for equipping soldiers with modern headsets, including hearing protection. Budget Committee approved as much as 97.4 million euros for procurement of “intelligent” ammunition for the German self-propelled howitzers 2000 (PzH 2000). For 7.5 million…
Uncertainties surrounding the supply of communications links vital to the survival of Ukrainian armed forces continue. No networked operations without Starlink, the dependence on this civilian provider is too big. At the same time, however, Starlink’s owner, Elon Musk, proved how uncertain this reliability is. After Starlink first enabled Ukraine to have a chance against…
Australian Army’s Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle achieves Initial Operational Capability (IOC). On this occasion Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, announced the Boxer’s success in meeting Australian Army’s stated operational needs, paving the way for Boxer to be deployed on operations. Gary Stewart, Managing Director Rheinmetall Defence Australia, stated: “Boxer CRV…
Any air defense needs a reliable reconnaissance and surveillance. Bundeswehr signed a contract for five deployable Ground Exploitation Systems (GES) recently. These GES are part of RAFAEL RecceLite aerial reconnaissance system used by German Air Force. To enable high mobility and rapid availability in different deployment scenarios, all GES will be realised for transport by…