Category: Security policy

Return of an icebreaker

Return of an icebreaker

Gepostet von | 24 Mar 2022 | , , | 0

Comment I would like to say in advance: This commentary is not a criticism of the Bayern's voyage. I have great respect for the crew, who stood their ground during the seven-month voyage over the Christmas and New Year period and despite the uncertainties caused by the pandemic, which meant that the port calls were not educational trips. My thoughts are focussed on what lies behind the Bavarians' journey. The very phrase "training and presence voyage" makes me tense up. Used by the then Minister of Defence, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, during the decommissioning ceremony, I assume a ministerial origin - i.e. not an invention of the Navy - and am encouraged...

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Research for Future

Research for Future

Gepostet von | 21 Mar 2022 | , , , , | 0

Germany is finally building another new research vessel, the METEOR IV. The contract has been awarded to an unusual shipyard consortium. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has commissioned the Fassmer and Meyer shipyards to build a new research vessel. According to a press release issued by the ministry on 21 January, the bidding consortium Meyer-Fassmer-Spezialschiffbau was awarded the contract to build the METEOR IV research vessel in mid-December 2021 as part of a Europe-wide tender. The consortium combines the expertise of two renowned German specialist shipyards. Access marineforum digital+ Are you already a registered user? Log in here now - also MOV members: Username Password Remember...

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Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet - an impossible divorce

Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet - an impossible divorce

Gepostet von | 17 Mar 2022 | , , , | 0

The naval base of Sevastopol on the south-western tip of Crimea has been the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet since the 18th century. This fleet is part of the former Imperial Russian Navy, or the Soviet naval fleet until 1991, and since then the naval forces of the Russian Federation. Although it is the smallest of the four fleets in the Russian sphere of influence and has no nuclear significance (it has been disarmed since the early 1990s), it is Russia's strategic arm towards the Mediterranean. It is stationed with the vast majority of its units in Sevastopol, while other harbours in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov are used as bases for larger or more powerful...

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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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