2023-06-15 11:00:00
As part of the major Air Force maneuver Air Defender, the soldiers will practice defending the NATO alliance area against a fictitious attacker until June 23. It is not officially a NATO exercise, although most of the 25 participating countries are NATO members. The Federal Republic is the hub for the maneuver. At times, around 20 of the more than 230 aircraft involved in the exercise will be stationed at the Lechfeld airfield in the Augsburg district, as well as a good 800 of the approximately 10,000 maneuver participants.
BR24live talks to the Bundeswehr about the major maneuver: is the exercise going as planned so far? Why is it necessary from the point of view of the Bundeswehr? And will the aircraft of the armed forces affect civilian air traffic in the next few days?
Exercises: from aircraft refueling in the air to dropping bombs
Among other things, the soldiers practice refueling aircraft in the air, aerial combat or dropping bombs over training areas. The armed forces also train in defending airports and combating drones or cruise missiles. Around 10,000 soldiers are involved. By far the largest proportion of the troops and aircraft come from the United States.
Soldiers practice the NATO alliance case: Germany is attacked
In the exercise scenario, the alliance case is proclaimed according to Article 5 of the NATO treaty. A fictional Eastern military alliance called “OCCASUS” attacks West Germany by infiltrating special forces and other troops from the East into Germany and occupying the fictional region of “Klebius”. In this situation, according to the Luftwaffe, it is foreseeable that there will be an advance north to the Baltic Sea, where the enemy troops want to take possession of the port of Rostock. The air force should react to this advance during the “Air Defender” maneuver.
Such scenarios are common in military exercises. “Air Defender” focuses on the cooperation of the air forces. Even in the event of an actual attack on a NATO member country, a comparable concentration of troops at a logistically convenient location would be likely.
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