In troubled times, the German Navy has all the necessary capabilities to assume a leading role in the Baltic Sea area. The Baltic Sea has never really been a "sea of peace"! Even the Hanseatic League fought here for the freedom of the seas and safe sea routes. During the world wars, the Baltic Sea was a battlefield and escape route, during the Cold...
Whether in the North Pacific or at the North Pole, the rivalry between the superpowers and political and ecological climate change influence each other. Imagine a scene in the coming years: The story of the self-proclaimed "People's Republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine would end in misadventure. Before the separatist strongholds finally fall into...
New weapons, autonomous systems and global availability - navies that want to be successful in the international arena are facing major challenges. The second part of "Turning Point at Sea" identifies the most important areas of action. Looking at different types of ships, the focus is on aircraft and helicopter carriers, large amphibious landing ships, drone carriers and submarines....
Over the past decades, Germany has believed itself to be at perpetual peace. Russia's war against Ukraine now requires us to take an honest look at ensuring secure maritime transport connections. There have been wars in human history, like seasons that describe the course of time. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the resulting...
The Defence Commissioner's 2022 annual report demonstrates the inability to promptly remedy the shortcomings in the armed forces. Despite ample funding. Just over a year after Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the modernisation of the Bundeswehr in his "Zeitwende" speech, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, draws conclusions in her 171-page...
Its flexibility makes the navy the ideal instrument of German foreign policy. A plea in favour of deploying the ships where they are needed - worldwide. To all appearances, the navy currently serves one main purpose and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future: deterrence against Russia on the northern flank of the alliance. As...
Stovepiping is a process in which the observer sees daylight through a narrow chimney and mistakes this for the horizon. This phenomenon is widespread and is often attributed to incomplete intelligence ("need to know"). The former Inspector General has asked the military branches to each develop a "target picture" for their area...
BALTOPS, the largest multinational naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, took place for the 51st time from 5 to 17 June 2022. Around 7,000 soldiers from 16 nations, including Sweden and Finland, took part this time. They were spread across 47 ships and boats, 89 aircraft, as well as various services and troop units...
After rising from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea at the beginning of the year to demonstrate his fighting power over central and south-east Europe for a fortnight, Neptune returned at the end of May for just as long: equipped with a mighty shield, his aim this time was to help his allies protect their territories. Neptune...
The Russian-Ukrainian war also had a major impact on the navies of the Baltic Sea states. They were already in the process of rebuilding capacities that had been radically curtailed after the Cold War. Historically neutral Sweden is one of the countries whose security architecture has been most affected by the recent Russian aggression; a...
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