Category: Armed Forces

Wish list with cancellation potential

With the 2035+ target vision, the Navy is presenting its vision of a long-term organisation. Not all projects will be realised - for various reasons. The navy's hopes for one or two, often long overdue, modernisations were pinned on the special assets of the Bundeswehr. However, the expectations of the smallest branch of the armed forces were muted enough. Most wearers of the blue scarf did not assume that the number of flagstaffs would increase significantly or that the capability potential would change significantly as a result of the Bundeswehr Special Fund. With the publication of a target picture for the navy from 2035, the inspector of the navy is now...

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Quo vadis, Navy?

How should the German Navy develop in the long term in the face of changing times, demographic trends and bureaucratic restrictions? Eight experts share their views on the current concept paper Marine 2035+. Published on 28 March 2023, the Marine 2035+ target vision is a concise paper that deals with naval tasks and fleet structure in a clear and concise manner without lingering in the cloudy style of many other strategy documents. The implied goal-means-route relationship is remarkably illuminating. The clear underlining that the navy is a capital-intensive project, while at the same time pushing unmanned systems - in poker jargon: all in - stands out positively. The future fleet structure...

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Always at the height of the war picture

Today, as a hundred years ago, it is crucial that the naval armament is appropriate to the threat. But this is precisely what the German navy lacked. "If you want peace, arm for war". When, if ever, in 175 years of naval history was the fleet equipped to meet the threat, and are we today? The image of war is the basic idea of the nature of a possible future war, its manifestations, means, intensity and the effects on military warfare. It is the backdrop for a general strategy with strategic objectives and the resulting consequences for the orientation of military means at operational and tactical level. If naval warfare assets effectively support an overall strategy, the fleet is positioned in line with the threat....

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Transport at low altitude

The Pentagon is planning to introduce a type of aircraft that combines the advantages of a transport aircraft and a ship. However, the idea is not entirely new. The Liberty Lifter concept aims to combine the advantages of ground effect vehicles and flying boats to create a high-performance system. Ground effect vehicles are aircraft that fly exclusively just above the surface of the sea, utilising the increased lift and reduced drag created by the interaction between the wings and the water surface. Flying boats, on the other hand, have the same flight behaviour as conventional aircraft, but use a hydrodynamically shaped hull or floating pontoons for water landings. The Liberty Lifter could be used for a range of applications between...

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Ten months of use

"Not during our watch!" was the decisive reaction of the inspector of the navy to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in violation of international law. What does this mean in concrete terms for those on watch on board? Just a few days after the turn of the year, the frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern sailed to take part in Task Group 441.01, the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (Maritime), or VJTF (M) for short, for the third time. Strictly speaking, this is only an operationally equivalent commitment, but against the backdrop of the current security situation in Europe, it is nevertheless tantamount to a deployment. The permanent combat unit of the NATO Response Force is intended to...

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