Category: Armed Forces

Tight schedule for the Sea Falcon

Unmanned systems will become increasingly important in the German Navy in the future. The MovMUAS project is currently taking centre stage for the corvettes. Fabian Henning The idea of unmanned aviation is as old as aviation itself. The military has always been the driving force behind the development of such unmanned systems due to the wide range of possible applications. With the rapidly advancing technologies of our dawning information age, there are new outstanding opportunities for unmanned aerial vehicles, which are revitalising applications in the military sector. In the German Navy, this development is taking place against the backdrop of a fundamental, future-orientated change in naval aviation. We are currently experiencing...

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Shortage economy, staff shortages and corona are a burden

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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"....

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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...

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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...

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