Category: Security policy

Tender class 404 - Supply ships of the German Navy

In keeping with our mission #meerverstehen, we want to reach not only the insiders, but also those interested in the navy. That's why we are launching the series "What is actually... " Today: a tender? Definition: A tender boat is actually a dinghy. Anyone who has ever been on a cruise will be familiar with the term, as they often have more than a dozen of them. In the German Navy, however, a tender is a support vessel for the boat squadron. They supply corvettes, minesweepers and even submarines on the high seas with fuel, water, food, spare parts and ammunition. At the same time, they also dispose of waste and have wastewater treatment facilities on board....

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Procurement: billions for the navy

Important major projects were finalised just in time for the German parliamentary elections. These procurements will characterise the navy for decades to come. On 23 June, before the summer recess, the Defence and Budget Committees of the German Bundestag presented 27 so-called 25-billion-euro bills with a total volume of over 19 billion euros for the Bundeswehr for approval and gave the green light for procurement. The navy will receive 7.3 billion euros of this for the procurement of three fleet service boats, two double-hull tankers, two submarines (U 212CD), five maritime reconnaissance vessels, two measuring boats for WTD 71 and the modernisation of the 123 frigates and minehunting boats...

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AUKUS submarine programme - an attempt at classification

Comment: AUKUS caused a stir due to France's escalation of the Australian-British-American security agreement to an arms deal. There are lessons to be learnt for Brussels and Berlin from this process. Last week's surprise announcement of a new security agreement between the USA, the UK and Australia triggered a strong reaction in France. However, even after a week, the uproar, which reached all the way to the top of the EU, was directed less against the pact than against the cancellation of a submarine construction programme that was announced in the same breath. Even moderate media such as the FAZ are failing to differentiate between the two: it is making a point of the US going it alone in Afghanistan and...

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Maritime safety during the pandemic

As in many areas, the pandemic has mercilessly exposed weaknesses in maritime security. But old problems do not simply disappear. As in many other areas of life, the impact of Covid-19 is also highlighting vulnerabilities in maritime security more clearly than ever before. And many are realising that it is not just about a possible attack by China on Taiwan, maritime provocations by Russia, Iran and China against warships and merchant ships of Western states, but also about the functioning of free maritime connections for global trade, the use of resources on the seabed and in the sea, and the use of the resources...

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Deployment without deployment status

After the First Iraq War in 1991, the Persian Gulf was to be cleared of more than a thousand mines as soon as possible. Despite many adversities, Germany made an important contribution with the South Flank Mine Defence Force. The Iraq crisis began on 2 August 1990 with the invasion of Iraqi troops in Kuwait. While George H. W. Bush responded by forging an anti-Iraq coalition and uniting states from the Islamic world, NATO and members of the Warsaw Pact with one goal, the Federal Republic of Germany kept its distance during the parallel unification process. Although it also supported the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the decisions of the European Community, it...

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