Category: Armed Forces

Shortage economy, staff shortages and corona are a burden

Access marineforum digital+ Are you already a registered user? Log in here now - also MOV members: Username Password Remember meLost your password? Don't have access yet? Click here for the marineforum digital+ subscription: Access to all articles from the marineforum magazine Easy payment via PayPal, direct debit or credit card The subscription can be cancelled at any time free of charge For MOV members free of charge To the subscription options...

Weiterlesen

Sea voyage with psychologist

The crew of the Brandenburg spent 166 days without going ashore during the mission in the Mediterranean. Commander Jan Hackstein gives an insight into how the men and women coped with this strain. Jan Hackstein Between the beginning of September 2020 and the end of January 2021, the Brandenburg frigate was part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2), one of NATO's four standing maritime task forces. The ship was absent from its home port for a total of 166 consecutive days. The mission, framework conditions and nature of the deployment, as well as the effects of the pandemic, made this voyage exceptional. The main mission during this time was to fulfil the mission-equivalent obligation "NATO Support Aegean"....

Weiterlesen

War in the shadows

Mine warfare in the North Sea began with a modest operation in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The approach to Wilhelmshaven was secured by mine barriers to prevent French forces from entering, as a French squadron had previously briefly flown the flag at Helgoland. These barriers were then intensively guarded by the existing coastal defence units, but not a single French ship came anywhere near the restricted areas during the war. After the war, the development of mines, at that time still combined with torpedoes, was further promoted, but without producing any spectacular activities. The first real naval mine, the C 77 model, was put into service in 1877. It was...

Weiterlesen

The 75-year-old danger

Since the end of the Second World War, millions of tonnes of contaminated waste have been stored in German waters. Their removal is still the subject of controversial debate between the federal and state governments. In the twelve-mile zone of the North Sea and Baltic Sea and in the seaward Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), there are around 1.6 million tonnes of contaminated munitions, including over 5,000 tonnes of gas munitions. The nautical charts show 15 dumping areas, labelled as "unclean munitions" or "anchoring and fishing prohibited". There are also positions with scattered munitions. The inventory has not yet been finalised. Since 2011, the Federal/State Working Group on the North Sea and Baltic Sea (Blano) has published the annually updated report "Munitions contamination of German marine waters". Unfortunately, the...

Weiterlesen

What is the Bundeswehr doing in Africa?

Wolfram Lacher recently published an SWP study entitled "Unser schwieriger Partner - Deutschlands und Frankreichs erfolgloses Engagement in Libyen und Mali" (https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/studien/2021S03_deutschland_frankreich_libyen_mali.pdf). What makes the paper so worth reading from a German perspective is not so much the knowledgeable detailed analysis of German and French Africa policy. Rather, it is the ruthlessness with which the author reveals the differences between the two countries and the fundamental German deficits in operational security policy. It is worth reflecting on this on the basis of Lacher's study.France has tried to separate itself from colonial concepts in recent decades, but has repeatedly reverted to the ideas of the Françafrique. It...

Weiterlesen
en_GBEnglish