In the run-up to Air Defender, these four machines were rehearsing at Jagel. To strengthen its air force, Ukraine would like the delivery of machines of this type.
(Photo: Getty Images)
The largest air force exercise in NATO’s history – the “Air Defender 2023” maneuver – has officially begun. A spokesman for the German Air Force confirmed the start on Monday morning to the German Press Agency. Until June 23, 25 nations and NATO will take part in the exercise under German leadership. According to the Bundeswehr, around 10,000 soldiers and 250 aircraft are involved. Among them are 70 machines from Germany.
The aim is to train how a fictitious attack by an eastern attacker is repelled by the NATO allies. According to the Air Force, the first idea for the maneuver came up in 2018, before Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine.
Three airspaces in Germany are directly affected by the exercise: over parts of northern Germany and the North Sea, parts of eastern Germany and the Baltic Sea, and parts of southwestern Germany.
The two ground attack aircraft took off in the run-up to the NATO exercise in Lechfeld, Bavaria. Machines of this type, also known as Warthogs (“warthogs”), have been in service with the US Air Force since the 1970s.
(Photo: Getty Images)
A kick-off event for “Air Defender 2023” is planned for Monday afternoon at the Wunstorf military airfield near Hanover, which will serve as the logistics hub for the maneuver. The Inspector of the Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, the Inspector of the Armed Forces Base, Lieutenant General Martin Schelleis, and Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) are expected there.
The Air Force wants to show strength with the maneuver, but avoid an escalation with a view to Russia. “We’re doing everything we can to ensure that it doesn’t escalate,” said Gerhartz on Monday on RBB’s Inforadio. As an example, he said: “We will not take any flights in the direction of Kaliningrad.” Many people also in his private environment said to him: “It’s good that we show that we are strong, we can defend ourselves to send a very clear signal send: NATO territory is simply the red line.”
Ingo Gerhartz (right), Lieutenant General and Inspector of the Air Force, provides information shortly before the start of the multinational large-scale exercise at the base of Tactical Air Force Squadron 51 in Jagel, Schleswig-Holstein. To his left is Jürgen Schröder, commodore and commander of Luftwaffe Squadron 51. In the background is a Tornado fighter aircraft from the German Air Force.
(Photo: IMAGO/Nikito)
The large-scale exercise had been prepared for years.
(Photo: IMAGO/localpic)
Gerhartz continued: “This is the signal that we show ourselves how quickly we can act. It is obvious that the maneuvers are taking place at a very special time in view of the Ukraine war.
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The inspector does not expect major restrictions on civil air traffic. “Of course, we have been working very closely with German air traffic control for months,” said Gerhartz. You have introduced many measures, including extending the operating hours of the airfields. He therefore hopes “that there will be no major restrictions – for example, that there will be no flight cancellations”.
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He emphasized: “We only practice in the airspaces in which we are otherwise active.. (…) It is completely clear that the intensity will of course be higher, but no civilian airfields are closed.” The air traffic controllers’ union GdF fears massive impact on the course of civil aviation.
Preparations for major NATO maneuvers are underway
Before the start of the international maneuver, hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the Wunstorf air base on Saturday. There were also protests in Brandenburg.
Participants at an event organized by the party ‘Die Linke’ form a peace sign in Pfalzheim, Brandenburg, in protest against the international air force exercise.
(Photo: dpa)
The air force inspector showed understanding for protests against the exercise. “I absolutely agree that it’s good that people also express their opinions. (…) We also offer any type of conversation,” he said.
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