Ex-Colonel of the General Staff Khodarenok told why Germany is creating a common European air defense German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that in the coming years the country will spend "substantial funds" on the modernization of the continent's air defense system, inviting other EU countries to "participate in the creation of a common air defense."
Military observer of the Newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok figured out why Berlin needed it and what it would lead to.
This week, in the capital of the Czech Republic at Charles University, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz voiced the German government's view on the updated air defense system of the European Union.
Bundeswehr officials have already talked about the concept of a "German Shield" with various measures to counter the means of air attack at different altitudes - extremely small, medium, large and in the stratosphere.
The developments of the Airbus concern - Airbus' Surface-to-Air Operations Center battle management system (SAMOC) - are proposed as an automated control system in this regard.
The SAMOC system, according to experts, will be able to combine components of air defense forces and means from NATO member states and non-NATO countries. The current operating countries of such a system are Germany, Hungary and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year, German Air Force officials launched the procurement of "top-level systems" - Arrow-3 anti-missile systems manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries.
This missile defense system is designed to destroy the warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the trans-atmospheric space and defeat spacecraft in low Earth orbits. However, to date, the system has not been received for Bundeswehr equipment.
As for the "lower level of protection", the German companies Rheinmetall, Hensoldt and DiehlDefense last year merged into a co-executor cooperation based on the production of the Diehl Iris-T SLM anti-aircraft missile system.
The leading European developer and manufacturer of missile systems MBDA (Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia) and other companies in this regard have also begun to advertise and offer highly mobile anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes specifically targeted for confrontation with small unmanned aerial vehicles.
In the segment of medium-range air defense systems/SAMs designed to combat aerodynamic targets such as manned aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles, Germany also seeks to assume a leading role by replacing the American Patriot air defense systems with its own development called TLVS (Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem).
However, last year the program was closed due to concerns that the necessary investments in its development and mass production would lead to an outflow of funds intended for the creation of systems to combat UAVs.
The consequences of this decision could undermine Germany's aspirations to take a leading position in the field of air defense systems.
Since Berlin decided to abandon the creation of its own promising TLVS-type air defense system, other countries began to look for suppliers of anti-aircraft missile weapons on the side or simply ordered modernization from the United States of their Patriot air defense systems.
There is no doubt that the experience of combat operations gained during the special military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine had a decisive influence on the revision and clarification of the views of the German leadership on the creation of an air defense system of the European continent.
The issues of combating missiles and guided missiles of the MLRS and unmanned aerial vehicles are particularly acute today.
In this regard, we can safely say that Berlin may soon revive the TLVS program.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.
Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).Mikhail Khodarenok