Category: Armed Forces

The renaissance of compulsory military service?

After the end of the Cold War, compulsory military service was seen as an obsolete model. But the new era requires new solutions. Since 24 February 2022, conscription, which was suspended in 2011, has suddenly been on everyone's lips again. At the time, German politicians were unanimous in their view that a defence war in Europe was not to be expected in the foreseeable future. Rather, the main task of the armed forces was to secure peace around the world. Furthermore, with a shrinking armed forces, military justice could only be guaranteed if service was shortened to such an extent that it hardly allowed for any meaningful training. Conscripts no longer appeared to be deployable in modern wars. As a result, it was not only opponents of conscription who...

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Ready for management tasks  

The establishment of a maritime command centre is progressing. Deu Marfor is well on the way to achieving full operational capability. Deu Marfor, the German Maritime Forces Staff, is ready. Commissioned on 23 January 2019, the staff is now capable of planning, supporting and leading multinational maritime manoeuvres and operations. The goal of taking on more responsibility within NATO resulted from the security situation following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. The interim goals achieved to date and the experience gained show one thing above all: Deu Marfor has proven its planning and leadership capabilities. The Northern Coasts exercise...

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Geography comes before history

The island location has significantly influenced the character and thinking of the British. From the other side of the Channel, things look different. Ian Morris is regarded as a historian of the long lines. A good ten years ago, in his bestseller "Who rules the world?", he raised the fundamental question of why civilisations rule or are ruled. One of his answers was appropriate at the time, which was characterised by interventions by Western states that often intervened in regional conflicts in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and the Hindu Kush with the help of local forces. Back then, you could watch Morris ride through...

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Is the navy being forgotten in air defence?

The Patriot, Iris-T and Arrow land-based systems are the talk of the town when it comes to air defence. However, the German Navy already has modern and effective weapons for this purpose in the form of frigates 124. Russia's unlawful war against cities and critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine has finally led to a realisation in Germany of the importance of efficient air defence. Now it is time to seriously and swiftly re-equip - together with other NATO partners. This was announced by Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht in a statement on the fringes of the October meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. According to the statement, fourteen European countries and Germany have signed a letter of ...

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Light(er) on land

The Navy and Marine Corps are planning the joint construction of amphibious units. However, different ideas are jeopardising the success of the project. The US Navy is planning to introduce a new class of light amphibious warship (LAW) for transporting marines to the theatre of operations. A decision on the ship design is expected to be made in the first half of 2023. With a length of between 60 and 120 metres and a displacement of 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes, the LAW falls into a medium size class from an international perspective. The maximum draught is 3.7 metres in order to ensure that the ship can approach the landing beach directly and...

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