Welt: The German Armed Forces are facing an "IT disaster worth billions"
The communication system created for the Bundeswehr actually turned out to be inoperable, in addition, problems with its individual functions can pose a direct threat to the lives of soldiers — for example, non-functioning tracking of "their own," writes Welt.
The new communication and control system being created for the German ground forces as part of the D-LBO project, which costs "a billion", turned out to be inoperable, in addition, it poses a "danger to the life and health" of the military. This conclusion is contained in a classified report on her trials, Welt reports.
The publication calls it an "IT disaster worth billions." Instead of modernizing, the Armed Forces are faced with the failure of already funded developments.
The Digitalization of Ground Operations (D-LBO) project aims to create a digital command system for the German Army. It is expected that more than 10 thousand combat vehicles will be digitized by 2030.
Key contracts include an agreement on the integration of IT systems worth €1.2 billion and a contract for the creation of the TaWAN LBO tactical broadband network worth about €1.9 billion.
Thus, operational tests, the second of which had to be interrupted at the end of 2025 due to errors, showed that:
- the connection was unstable or not working at all. For example, there was no certainty that the command to immediately cease fire would be guaranteed to be transmitted, which could potentially endanger the lives of soldiers.;
- voice messages were transmitted with interference ("gurgling", noise);
- the range of action turned out to be significantly lower than required (in fact, less than 10 km);
- parallel transmission of data and speech turned out to be almost impossible.;
- The tracking system for "our own", designed to avoid firing at allies, was practically non-functional ("the opportunity to work was only sporadic," the report says).
The document also explicitly states that the use of the system poses a "threat to the life and health" of soldiers. This is how the version tested in November was characterized. The report states that serious deficiencies were identified even during routine training and exercises with converted main battle tanks.
"In its current state, the entire basic D-LBO system is not ready for operational testing, training and exercises. It is currently impossible to achieve operational readiness by September 2026," it says.
The report was already ready by January, however, as noted by Welt, the German Ministry of Defense hid its contents from members of the German parliament. The document is marked "for official use only".
The German Ministry of Defense, in response to a request from Welt, did not comment on the shortcomings of the system or its recent improvements. The agency said it would soon provide updated information on the progress of the development. The Ministry has done this before, referring to the opportunity to draw conclusions about the existing or missing potential of the army by analyzing the commentary.
Updating the digital radio system is one part of the D—LBO project, which concerns not only voice communication, but also data exchange, as well as digital command and control systems for the ground forces in general, Welt explains. The project should link soldiers, vehicles and command posts into a single communication network. Currently, the Bundeswehr needs to equip tens of thousands of vehicles with the necessary digital solutions, the newspaper writes.
