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  • #76
    That was why we had the fucking idiot Wesley Clark in command of the Kosovo War!

    Colonel, this has to be the most accurate, pithy and outstanding statement you have ever posted on the WAB!!!
    “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
    Mark Twain

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    • #77
      Originally posted by kato View Post
      How does the BMD shield enhance security for our eastern allies? Beyond getting a few American feet on the ground.
      My point is that without security for CEE nations or as you might call it 'New Europe' you would be in a far worse position than you are now - and reliant on US support. You speak of 'European unity' but do not regard the security of the nations east of you as not your concern. How is this 'European unity'?


      Originally posted by kato View Post
      North Stream was signed years before we absorbed the East to broaden our cheap labour base. And connects Germany with German-owned gas fields. Which are inconveniently located in Russia.
      For which Schroeder signed off a 3bn loan a week before he left office and then went to work on the board of the company (Gazprom) to which he had just signed off the loan. Normal business right?

      Originally posted by kato View Post
      And, please, bullying Greece? The opinion on the street here is that we shouldn't be giving Greece a single red cent.
      Yet over $400bn worth of loans to keep your euro club together which just happens to be good for German exports.

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      • #78
        Originally posted by snapper View Post
        You speak of 'European unity' but do not regard the security of the nations east of you as not your concern.
        We've been financing those nations east of us for the past 20 years, going to the extent where half their militaries consist of donated German equipment.

        Originally posted by snapper View Post
        For which Schroeder signed off a 3bn loan a week before he left office and then went to work on the board of the company (Gazprom) to which he had just signed off the loan. Normal business right?
        Except according to investigations into that Schröder never knew about the loan (which was actually collateral, not a loan). Finance minister Clement signed off on it. The government's offer of a loan was rejected by Gazprom two weeks later btw. Schröder's managing business (incl. being bought by a major company with interest in doing business with the government) is pretty normal - if a bit too legal - for a German chancellor, so yeah, it's really business as usual.

        Realistically, what people bemoaned more about Schröder's government afterwards was:
        a) the anti-social reform of welfare in Germany and
        b) handing out immigration visa to pretty much everyone in the former Soviet Union who claimed to be ethnic German.

        Then again - they voted for him, their own fault. I didn't.

        Originally posted by snapper View Post
        Yet over $400bn worth of loans to keep your euro club together
        Well, we're not spending a single red cent on preventing Brexit, so... not everything is worth it. And the UK is a bit more relevant for exports from Germany than Greece. Funny though that the majority of the German population thinks the exact other way around. Let Greece crash, force the Brits back in.

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        • #79
          Originally posted by snapper View Post
          The Baltics have been doing it since the Estonian cyber attack but good to see the Krauts getting up to speed on their own account.
          SPON has exposed that the Computer Networks Operations department of the Strategic Reconnaissance Command performed offensive cyber operations in 2015, successfully intruding into the network of a cell phone provider to establish tracking profiles on members of an armed group that had kidnapped a German in Afghanistan for a potential kinetic operation by KSK special forces.

          Declassified planned organization for CIR by next year btw (planned for April 1st):

          Click image for larger version

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          Army-level command with two divisions under "Operations Department". Strategic Reconnaissance Command gets "effect and reconnaissance" domains, IT Command gets "command and support" domains. Units at the bottom-most layer are battalion-sized.

          The University of the Bundeswehr at Munich is currently expanding with a new department for cyber security and related research, planned with 11 chairs; their previous cyber defense center did not belong to a particular department. A few dozen million invested for buildings alone, start of a new cyber security officer course is planned for 2018.

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          • #80
            Originally posted by kato View Post
            • 09/2016: Support Squadron : newly raised, established from 5th Minesweeping Squadron to be reorganized 06/2014
            Support Squadron in the Navy was established on time (09/27) and got the five Type 404 tenders one of which is modified to supply submarines with hydrogen.

            Squadron function is to support the 1st Flotilla at sea, i.e. the littoral forces consisting of 5 (future probably 10) corvettes, 10 MCM vessels and 6 submarines plus to provide "hosting" vessels for CIR ELINT forces and maintain the Baltic Sea ports of the Navy (Kiel, Rostock, Eckernförde). The flotilla also has the naval infantry under its command.

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            • #81
              Originally posted by kato View Post
              - 1 oversized multirole wing (60 Eurofighter at two bases)
              [...]
              JG71 reduced to a single squadron and attached to one of these three wings.
              JG71 was reestablished to a full wing on July 4th this year, thus making it four identical multirole wings now - all resized to 35 Eurofighters. JG71 started out with its 21 aircraft still this summer, but will grow to full wing size by taking in the Eurofighters originally deployed for overseas training at Holloman AFB, which is being abandoned.

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              • #82
                Originally posted by kato View Post
                Support Squadron in the Navy was established on time (09/27) and got the five Type 404 tenders one of which is modified to supply submarines with hydrogen.
                Correction: The single tender modified to supply submarines - A515 Main - is not part of the Support Squadron but instead belongs to the 1st Submarine Squadron. The other five tenders - Elbe, Mosel, Rhein, Werra, Donau - together form the Support Squadron.

                The squadron currently and in the near future shoulders Operation Sophia for the German Navy, i.e. the sea rescue operation of refugees in the Mediterranean. The three tenders of the squadron based at Kiel will alternate on deployment for this mission having started last November, i.e. with the next rotation after the establishing of the quadron.

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                • #83
                  The German Air Force will expand its planned A400M force from 40 aircraft to 53 aircraft.

                  Not because they want to though. But because we aren't finding anyone who wants to buy them from us (... at factory price). The aircraft will be stationed in a separate squadron at Lechfeld in the southwest of Bavaria; the Air Force has been in talks with Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic about a possible joint use of the aircraft (or them leasing them from us) but nothing in this regard has come to pass so far.

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                  • #84
                    After two years the planned expansion of the MBT fleet to 320 tanks has finally had its budget passed. The Bundeswehr will buy back 95 Leopard 2 A4 tanks from the industry and have 68 of them upgraded to Leopard 2 A7V standard. The current 20 Leopard 2 A7 as well as the 16 Dutch Leopard 2 A6M will also be brought to A7V standard, which if i get it right by difference mostly entails some software modifications for programmable ammunition. Cost is 760 million - if you're wondering why, it's because the A4 to A5 change entails pretty much an entirely new turret with new sensors and weapons.

                    The budget committee also passed joining a NATO programme for modernising the AWACS fleet on the Air Force side and development of RAM Block 2B for the Navy.

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                    • #85
                      Slight reorganization for the Joint Support Forces (SKB):
                      • NBC Defense and Military Police, currently brigades under the Territorial Forces command, become independent commands directly under the Joint Support Forces Inspector General
                      • Military Intelligence (MAD) and the Center for Inner Command (ZIF, pretty much a command policy thinktank), currently within SKB, are attached directly to the ministry of defense and subordinated to the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr

                      Since command support and strategic reconnaissance commands were separated from SKB and turned into CIR, SKB will therefore in the future have Territorial Forces, Logistics, NBC Defense and Military Police as subordinated commands - compared to the 2011 structure a - fully intended - far higher focus on turning the SKB effectively into what the Territorial Army used to be.

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                      • #86
                        Since it's the last two weeks of parliamentary sessions before the election in September the government is trying to have as many defence procurement projects passed as possible. On the list are...

                        New Equipment
                        • K130 Corvettes (€1.99 billion) : 5 new corvettes. Additionally €470 million in separate equipment procurement and reuse.
                        • A330 MRTT (€1.4 billion) : Buying 5 aircraft to replace the current A310 MRTT fleet.
                        • Heron TP (€1.0 billion) : Procurement of 5 UCAVs, price includes pilot training with the IAF as well as stationing of the units in Israel and upkeep. Armament to be procured separately, probably IAI Nimrod.


                        Equipment Upgrades
                        • Upgrading Puma (€260 million) : Mostly integration of Spike LR (missiles ordered in March - 1,000 out of a projected need of 23,000) and modification of sights and active defense systems as well as training simulators.
                        • Upgrading Boxer (€112 million) : Bringing the first batch procured a few years ago up to current serial production standard.
                        • Upgrading Tiger (€103 million) : Rebuilding 33 Tiger to ASGARD1 configuration - a hot&high configuration used for Afghanistan (12 Tigers converted in 2013/14), now also for Mali.
                        • Upgrading Luna (€74 million) : Procurement of new LUNA NG UAVs to extend usage of the current systems until 2025. Slight upgrade, mostly higher loiter time.


                        Continuous System Procurement
                        • IdZ Infantry Combat System (€369 million) : IdZ-ES sets for 68 platoons in addition to the current about 30 platoons. Delayed since there were some problems with the encryption algorithms used in its communications gear.
                        • MoTaKo Communications System (€81 million) : Demonstrator set - for 50 vehicles - for the future digital communications system for the Bundeswehr. Overall project about €5.5 billion.


                        Other
                        • Leases : extension for Heron-1 lease for Mali (€36 million).
                        • Ammunition : GMLRS rockets (€96 million) for MARS2 and 120mm HE-MP (€45 million) for Leos.
                        • Spare Parts : 10 replacement engines for A400M (€304 million !!!)
                        • Various : About 4,100 additional NVDs (€39 million), new unarmored 5t and 15t trucks (€224 million), new dual-use communication satellite (€148 million), 38 armored cranes (€87 million)


                        In addition there are projects to "correct" the privatisation and outsourcing drive of previous administrations that are on the table now. Doing that for HIL, the army maintenance contract with the defence industry, will cost €5.4 billion; extending and modifying the Herkules IT contract costs €519 million, correcting the failed LHBW privatisation requires €253 million, reintroducing spare parts pools with the defence industry - part of the HIL correction - costs €123 million and the public share in companies providing vehicle services to the Bundeswehr cost €70 million.

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                        • #87
                          Any movement on a Tornado replacement project? I feel like that has to get going soon while the birds still have some life ahead of them.

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                          • #88
                            IISS had a (in my opinion pessimistic) article on that this week: http://www.iiss.org/en/militarybalan...onsortium-6745

                            FCAS/NextGenWS is effectively in the planning stage until mid-2018, with a possible procurement decision afterwards. Airbus is positioning itself already, although in my opinion it's likely they'll only play a minor role in FCAS based on the fracas between them and the government.

                            The Tornados themselves are getting continuously upgraded through the ASSTA program (Avionics System Software Tornado in Ada). Despite the name that also involves hardware upgrades; ASSTA 1 replaced the whole computer and integrated a ton of new systems (mostly for SEAD), ASSTA 2 added new MFDs and a new control system for electronic warfare, ASSTA 3 adds Link 16. Current standard is ASSTA 3.1, which replaces all monochrome displays with color MFDs; ASSTA 4 is in development.

                            P.S.: FCAS will likely compete for funding - for major projects in that timeframe - with at least TLVS (formerly MEADS), SLWÜA (formerly EuroHawk, now Triton) and MKS180 (formerly new corvettes, now 9000t each...).
                            Last edited by kato; 21 Jun 17,, 14:57.

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                            • #89
                              Out of 30 projects in the overall list the budget committee passed 23 today; notable ones among the seven postponed items are the Heron-TP armed drones and the spare A400M engines, the Spike LR integration on Puma subproject, the Leopard 2 ammunition and the MoTaKo communications platform demonstrators. The government will probably try for these again next wednesday with some modifications to the bills.

                              The SPD wants the Heron-TP on the bill unarmed with refit possibility, i.e. without signing off blind on the (officially secret) armament that would be bought in addition. Beyond politics this also makes some sense as e.g. the Luftwaffe is in the process of integrating Brimstone 2 which would be a different - and likely cheaper - armament option for the drones.
                              MoTaKo was postponed over concerns that Rohde & Schwarz was trying to sell them proprietary equipment (via their encryption routine) tieing the Bundeswehr to them as a provider for the overall project; for A400M the SPD wants multiple bills passing individual subprojects (there's a few other things besides the spare engines in there).

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                              • #90
                                The Air Force for once actually completes a procurement project on time and as planned: The last of 15 Eurocopter H-145M was delivered today.

                                US Army uses a civilian variant of that helo under the UH-72A Lakota designation (effectively unchanged from a civilian EC145, with an added military radio and a green paintjob). The H-145M version as procured by Germany in comparison has ballistic protection, self-sealing fuel tanks, EO/IR sensors, chaff/flare launchers, a winch system and two hardpoints for optional armament (gunpods, rocket launchers or ATGM). Armament isn't planned so far. Intended use in the German Air Force is to support special forces (army KSK and navy SEK-M), what they apparently like about it as primarily a transport helicopter is its low optical and acoustic signature and the small rotor diameter that makes operations in dense urban environments easier.

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