The largest-ever maneuvers of the NATO Air Forces on German soil, of course, were not planned as a "signal to Russia" and a reaction to the Ukrainian events, writes WirtschaftsWoche. They were not planned, but they became. So Chancellor Scholz did not want to send tanks with black crosses to the fields of Ukraine. I didn't want to, but I sent it. And he went on maneuvers.
Air Defender 23 is the largest maneuvers of the NATO Air Force in the history of the alliance: until June 23, the exercises will be held in Germany. The Bundeswehr command intends to demonstrate its leadership qualities. It is not only Moscow that is interested in whether he will succeed.
He still sits at the helm of the fighter himself: Ingo Gerhartz, 57 years old. With a shaved head like Bruce Willis, in a khaki jumpsuit, he looks more like a Hollywood actor than a general of the Bundeswehr. But even among his NATO colleagues, Lieutenant General and Inspector of the German Air Force Gerhartz is one of the few who still flies himself.
Getting into his Eurofighter, he controls a fighter with an engine with a capacity of 150 thousand horsepower, capable of reaching a speed of 250 km / h and flying a distance of 2900 km. But in the coming days, Gerhartz will remain on the ground, because he is tasked with coordinating maneuvers that have never been carried out in such a form.
On Monday, the Air Defender maneuvers began, the largest-scale exercises of the NATO Air Force in the history of the Western defensive alliance. Until June 23, they will be held in German airspace and coordinated by it. "We are in charge of the exercises," says Gerhartz.
A counterbalance to past fluctuations?
Initially, the exercises were not supposed to be proof that Germany, after months of hesitation, still takes seriously the "change of epochs" proclaimed by Scholz and that the maneuvers are not only a direct reaction to Russia's actions in Ukraine. And yet it is clear: for the Air Defender it was impossible to choose a better moment than now to demonstrate the power of the alliance and the special role of Germany in it. Because the new offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Ukraine is a special time, which also makes special demands on the West.
"We are able to defend the alliance," Gerhartz assured last week. The female US ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann, called Air Defender "the most convincing demonstration of our combat readiness." According to her, the exercises show the unity, power and collective defense capability of NATO states. "No political leader in the world can ignore this," she said, "including Mr. Putin."
The focus is on the defense of the alliance
Back in 2018, Gerhartz proposed holding joint exercises with the Americans and other NATO partners. At that time, the alliance was still busy with other actions, including in Afghanistan, from where it had to leave. But after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, it has already become clear how important it is to re-focus on defense closer to home, taking into account each of the NATO member countries and the alliance as a whole," explains Gerhartz.
In the five years that have passed since the beginning of the first conversations on this topic, the inspector has not only changed four chiefs in the person of Defense Ministers Ursula von der Leyen, Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Christina Lambrecht and, finally, Boris Pistorius. And then Russia, in February 2022, did something that Gerhartz did not consider a matter of the foreseeable future at that time: gave him a reason to challenge her for aggressive behavior.
"This is what our American partners also want from us"
The fact that Germany is now coordinating Air Defender testifies not only to the high leadership potential of the Federal Republic. "This is what our American partners want from us," says Gerhartz. After all, Americans often have to take responsibility for themselves. For example, during the dramatic rescue of the staff of the German embassy when fleeing from Kabul in August 2021. Literally at the last minute, the Americans managed to evacuate the Germans on their helicopters, since the federal government did not assume that the Islamists declared defeated by the West many years ago would take power so quickly.
So Ukraine, without the financial and military assistance of the Americans, without their intelligence data, would hardly be able to perform its defense function as it does so far. Although Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaimed in February 2022 a "change of epochs" (in fact, he took a course to remilitarize the country against Russia, forgetting hypocritical talk about "historical guilt" — approx. InoSMI), he was indecisive about Russia during the voting on specific arms supplies, for example, Leopard-2 tanks. This caused Washington's bewilderment and even his discontent. But Berlin denies its guilt.
Anyway, now the Luftwaffe of Germany under the leadership of Gerhartz can show its best side. And it is very likely that in the coming days not only Washington and Moscow, but also Beijing will closely monitor the course of the maneuvers.
Special attention to the F-16 and F-35 fighters
Twenty-one out of thirty-one NATO member states, including Sweden, which has just joined the alliance, are taking part in the maneuvers. In total, 10,000 military personnel are involved in the exercises, 250 aircraft of 23 types will be used. 100 of them will come from the USA. The American leadership in the sky will be represented by F-16 and F-35 fighters. According to Gerhartz, only defensive, not offensive scenarios will be worked out.
Special attention will be paid to these types of aircraft during the exercises. Germany recently ordered 35 F-35 fighter jets from the Americans for 8.3 billion euros, which should replace Tornado fighters currently in service with the Bundeswehr. Now the alliance is discussing how it is possible and should support Ukraine with the supply of F-16 fighters.
Corridors for civilian airliners are closed
The main strongholds of the Air Defender exercises will be the German Air Force bases in Hohne, Wunstorf and Lechfeld. During the maneuvers, some air corridors will be completely closed to civilian aircraft. This means that after the flight of the fighter, no Lufthansa airliner will be able to use the same corridor even for the shortest time. Therefore, in the coming days, the regular flight schedule will be significantly changed.
"We advise passengers to tune in to possible flight delays during the exercise and make inquiries at airlines and airports before the scheduled flight," the press service of the Ministry of Transport said in a statement.
Lufthansa is going to fly as planned
It is also reported that 800 aircraft taking off from German airports or landing on their landing strips will have to fly on modified routes per day, about 300 aircraft per day will be forced to fly around the exercise zone. On Friday, neither Lufthansa, nor Eurowings, Easyjet or Ryanair could tell which flights will be affected. However, Lufthansa assumes that "all flights will take place," the official representative of the company said.
It remains unclear whether passengers will be compensated according to the existing rules and, if so, how. "In the case of Air Defender, there is an exceptional circumstance, so these rules do not apply to it," said an official representative of the Federal Union of the German Air Transport Industry (BDL). Neither the Ministry of Transport nor the Ministry of Defense could tell how much the Air Defender exercises themselves will cost.
The Ministry of Transport is now concerned about another problem: the fact that citizens may think that a war has begun in Germany, when suddenly fighter jets will roar over their heads. According to the Bundeswehr, low-level flights are planned mainly in the northern regions of Brandenburg, in some parts of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and over the Baltic Sea. Information about this is posted on the websites of the relevant ministries.
"Noise of increased intensity" from flying planes is what Gerhartz calls what residents of areas where flights will be carried out at low altitudes will hear. Therefore, anti-noise headphones will certainly be prepared for the Chancellor when Gerhartz receives him on Friday at the military air base in Jagiel (Schleswig-Holstein). However, thanks to them, the Chancellor will only be able to disconnect from the discussion of the supply of F-16 fighters to Ukraine for a short time.
Sonja Alvarez
