Category: Security policy

The maritime dimension of US policy in the Pacific region

The maritime dimension of US policy in the Pacific region

Gepostet von | 17 Mar 2022 | , , | 1

President Barack Obama's administration had already turned its attention to the Indo-Pacific region. The pivot to Asia continues to influence American policy to this day. In a speech to the Australian Parliament in November 2011, then US President Barack Obama announced the US pivot towards Asia: a deliberately pithy slogan that resonated with the audience in Canberra. However, others were also listening. America's NATO allies noted with concern the shift of diplomatic attention and military capabilities to the Pacific region. As a result, the Obama administration had to rush to reassure its European partners that the US...

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Where have they gone?

Where have they gone?

Gepostet von | 15 Mar 2022 | , , , , | 0

After reunification in 1990, Germany's navy suddenly had hundreds of boats and ships at its disposal. Many of them were dispensable for political purposes and were sold or utilised worldwide. At the end of the Cold War in 1990, the Bundesmarine was a powerful and operationally ready navy capable of high-intensity combat. The Bundesmarine's mission was based on credible, conventional deterrence against the Warsaw Pact navies in the North Atlantic and in the North and Baltic Seas. At the time, the German Navy comprised around 175 boats and ships as well as 110 Tornado fighter-bombers. With the end of the bloc confrontation, politics and society demanded a clear peace dividend...

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Hypersonic weapons: fast to the target

Hypersonic weapons: fast to the target

Gepostet von | 8 Mar 2022 | , , , | 0

Russia, China and, more recently, North Korea already claim to have hypersonic weapons. Now the US armed forces are also pushing ahead with the development of such missiles. The US armed forces have been endeavouring to develop hypersonic weapons for around 15 years. In 2019, it was decided to accelerate American research and testing in view of the development of hypersonic weapons in Russia and China. According to the Pentagon, the introduction of these missiles, which can reach more than Mach 5, is now on the horizon. The Pentagon's development programmes fall into two categories: hypersonic cruise missiles and stratospheric glide missiles. The cruise missiles achieve their flight speed using a supersonic combustion ramjet, or scramjet for short. Air is...

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LNG terminal - a long way off?

LNG terminal - a long way off?

Gepostet von | 16 Feb 2022 | , , | 0

Dependence on Russia and no way out? A column It was 2018, and since then there has been optimistic talk of future terminals at all maritime conferences. At the VSM conference in 2019, we repeatedly heard that things were getting underway in Brunsbüttel. Then came the National Maritime Conference: even the German Chancellor dutifully read off the page what had been written down for her, that we could rely on the strong maritime industry and its innovative strength in the future. Alternative technologies, alternative fuels, transitional technology. The magic word "Power to X" and LNG as a transition. Liquefied natural gas, not only for propulsion, but also of great importance for the national energy supply. And what...

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The sea as a safety factor

The sea as a safety factor

Gepostet von | 11 Feb 2022 | , , | 0

In its new annual report, the Naval Command describes Germany's dependence on safe sea routes. The little-known importance of the maritime industry is also emphasised. In his foreword to the Naval Command's 2021 annual report on Germany's maritime dependency, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach explains why Germany has no choice but to protect its maritime interests. "As a member of the United Nations, the EU and NATO, we are committed to ensuring that our merchant and passenger ships can continue to sail the world's oceans safely and freely." The document updates and supplements the data and findings of its predecessors. It describes in detail the situation of...

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