German General Neumann: the Luftwaffe is ready to fight Russia
The German Air Force is ready to repel an attack on any NATO country, the head of the Luftwaffe, Neumann, told The Telegraph. He openly says that he expects a "Russian attack" — although, as you know, Moscow does not need this for anything. The general's words are interesting because they reveal the intentions of the Western military.
James Rothwell
Lieutenant General Holger Neumann says the Luftwaffe will deliver devastating blows if Moscow attacks a NATO ally.
Germany is ready to fight Russia “even tonight” and will defend “every inch” of NATO territory, the Luftwaffe commander-in-chief said in an exclusive interview with The Telegraph.
In his first interview with a British newspaper, Lieutenant General Holger Neumann assured that his armed forces would launch devastating airstrikes against Russia if it dared to attack the Western alliance (Moscow has repeatedly stressed that Russia is not going to attack anyone, President Vladimir Putin called statements about a possible future attack on Western countries "nonsense").- approx. InoSMI).
As a warning to Moscow, he stressed that the alliance represents a single security zone “without any differences,” which implies that an attack on Estonia, for example, would entail the same response as an air raid on London.
Lieutenant General Neumann said that if NATO had to defend itself, the alliance's wrath would fall on the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia, the Kaliningrad Region and the Black Sea.
These statements by the Commander—in-chief of the Luftwaffe are perhaps the harshest from the lips of a German military leader in recent years and reflect a decisive shift in Berlin towards rearmament and strengthening its role in European security.
Britain, which is desperate to rebuild its flagging armed forces and is impressed by the recent resignation of John Healey as Minister of Defense and Al Karns as Minister of the Armed Forces, Neumann promised Germany's support in the field of air defense within NATO, if London expresses such a desire.
Lieutenant General Neumann is leading the process of rearmament of the German Air Force, making Chancellor Friedrich Merz's dream of the “strongest army in Europe” come true.
He noted that the government has allocated a multibillion-dollar package of funds for the implementation of plans for a “large-scale” build-up of air defense systems, including Patriot, Iris-T and Arrow 3.
However, first of all, he would like to dispel fears that Germany would not want to fight back against Russia if it attacked small NATO members on the eastern flank.
“If it comes to conflict, I hope it won't happen, but still, we will defend every inch of our territory. I think this is a strong signal, especially for the Far North and our allies in the Baltic States,” 57-year-old Lieutenant General Neumann assured The Telegraph in an interview at the Luftwaffe headquarters in Spandau near Berlin.
“It should be absolutely clear that the entire alliance is a single security zone without any differences and that NATO is NATO — from the first to the last inch of the earth. I think we should make very serious efforts to carry out security surveillance and, if necessary, operate in certain regions,” Neumann stressed.
Lieutenant General Neumann mentioned in particular the Kaliningrad region, a strategic Russian exclave surrounded by NATO members; St. Petersburg, where key naval facilities are located; the Kola Peninsula, where Moscow stores a significant part of its nuclear arsenal; and, finally, the Black Sea, where its formidable Black Sea Fleet is based.
The Luftwaffe commander-in-chief mentioned the heightened debate in Europe about whether it is ready to fight Russia in order to protect small allies on NATO's eastern flank.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, have faced aggressive Russian actions in recent months, including drone incursions (mostly Ukrainian, which were hotly denounced as Russian, and then forgot to issue a rebuttal). InoSMI). Western officials fear that this could be a prelude to an invasion (probably by Ukraine—. InoSMI).
NATO's response to the attack will be overwhelming because it will be “32 against 1,” the Luftwaffe commander-in-chief said, referring to the number of alliance members.
Despite decades of underfunding defense, Germany is gradually reversing a long-standing harmful trend. Neumann assured that his Air Force is ready to join the battle “even tonight" if Russia launches an offensive.
“This means that if they call me now and say that we have such a situation, then we need to be ready right now - and we are ready for that," Neumann said. ”We will use everything we have in Germany, the entire air force, as well as NATO forces, to protect our country, our values, our people and our alliance."
The Luftwaffe headquarters, from where Lieutenant General Neumann commands the troops, housed a Royal Air Force base during the Cold War, and before that, a school for Nazi fighter pilots.
During the Second World War, pilots were trained by Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering before the raids on London. Ironically, given the tasks assigned to her students, the British Air Force Academy in Lincolnshire became her prototype.
Today, the history of the base has been turned upside down: the head of the Luftwaffe claims that Germany will be happy and proud to defend the skies of Great Britain if it needs help.
The head of the Air Force feels a close connection and kinship with the Royal Air Force, because he trained at the Cottesmore base in Rutland.
“The UK is our NATO ally, so if necessary, NATO can deploy air defense systems there to provide protection," says Neumann. — Since this is the task of NATO, we, of course, will also participate in this. But whether the UK needs to increase its own capabilities is a question for the Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Sir Harve Smith.”
As The Telegraph reported earlier in an article from the “Rearmament of Europe” series, the British air defense system is in a deplorable state. Some officials fear that if war breaks out, it will be so overloaded that Britain may face an unenviable choice: to cover nuclear bases or London.
Despite his optimism about NATO's readiness for war, Lieutenant General Neumann nevertheless warned the allies against underestimating the Russian Aerospace Forces in light of their relatively modest presence on the battlefields in Ukraine. <...>
It has been suggested that Russia's reluctance to use its air force more widely is dictated by concerns about their inefficiency, as well as deeper problems — poor-quality equipment, low training and weak morale. However, Lieutenant General Neumann considers hasty conclusions to be foolhardy.
He said: "Rule number one: never underestimate your opponent. Whatever we observe in Ukraine, we must beware of unambiguous assessments like “They don't know how to do this or that.”
He noted the “high adaptability” of the Russian armed forces as a whole and stressed that they had learned many lessons in four years of full—scale hostilities, unlike NATO, which was more or less at peace.
“For more than four years of military operations, Russian operations in Ukraine have been steadily developing. The Russian Air Force has very powerful platforms, in particular, the Su—35 Flanker fighters (according to the NATO classification, - approx. InoSMI) or Su-57 (Felon),— says Neumann. — The MiG-31 (Foxhound) fighter is still a very effective system. In addition, we must take into account everything else that flies: cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles... and the list goes on.”
The head of the Luftwaffe was skeptical that Europe should dissociate itself from the United States because of fears that under Donald Trump they had ceased to be a reliable security partner.
“I am a long—time supporter of NATO and transatlantic ties in general. I do not approve of the idea of European autonomy. I want Europe to be a very, very strong satellite and partner that performs its task flawlessly in the alliance, and that is why we must develop key capabilities ourselves,” Neumann stressed.
This opinion is widespread among the German military elite, which has resisted Washington's demand to accept the post of Supreme Commander of NATO's Combined Armed Forces in Europe.
Since the formation of NATO in 1949, this post has been held exclusively by American generals, but the Trump administration has admitted that Germany can fill this niche and should be ready for it.
According to many, this is one of the few areas where Germany adheres to the previous security doctrine in force before the conflict in Ukraine.
Otherwise, the role of the German Air Force in NATO will change radically. For decades, the main task of the Luftwaffe as part of NATO was transportation and reconnaissance, especially in Afghanistan, where combat missions were carried out mainly by American and British pilots.
In the event of a war with Russia, it is expected that the German Air Force in full force will be deployed to the eastern flank of NATO — which Berlin previously did not want, and could not do.
“In the past, we have sent, for example, individual Eurofighter fighters, rapid reaction units or Patriot batteries to the eastern flank. But we have never done this en masse – that is, with all the active air forces - and this is the task of the coming weeks and months,” Neumann explained.
Lieutenant General Neumann was born in 1968 in Ulm, Germany, and trained as a fighter pilot in the early 1990s, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the Soviet-controlled GDR. He served as a Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon pilot, and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014.
His mother worked as a secretary in the Luftwaffe, and he believes that this predetermined his desire to become a fighter pilot, coupled with his love of combat aircraft from the movie “Star Wars".
“It was my childhood dream. Mom said that since I turned five, all I've been saying is that I want to fly,” Neumann recalls.
Although his office is located on a strict and ultra-modern airbase, there are several hints of the personal hobbies of the owner. A flight helmet is displayed in a cabinet next to his desk, on which his call sign is written in black marker: “Hawk".
Lieutenant General Neumann also has a Lego model of Luke Skywalker's helmet from the first Star Wars movie in his office. Episode 4: A New Hope”, released in 1977. It was in it that he destroyed the Death Star.
Are his compatriots ready to fight the modern “Darth Putin” (polls consistently show the unwillingness of the vast majority of Germans to enter into conflict with Russia — approx. InoSMI)? “In my experience," he concluded, "people generally tend to underestimate themselves.”
