Germany To Arm Their Eurofighters With Brimstone Missiles

The German Armed Forces' (Bundeswehr) plans to equip their Eurofighter aircraft with Brimstone anti-tank guided missiles, manufactured by the European defense company MBDA. According to Germany's defense procurement plans, they intend to purchase 274 Brimstone missiles, with the Eurofighter Typhoon jets of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) set to carry this new weapon system. The procurement is expected to involve the signing of a contract in the second quarter of the year.

Arming the German Eurofighter jets with Brimstone missiles will provide them with the capability to strike against surface targets. The Brimstone missile, with a reported range of approximately 20 km when fired from aircraft, has been previously integrated with Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Britain's Tornado jets.

The Brimstone has been operationally deployed in conflicts such as Afghanistan and Libya, proving to be effective in performing surgical strikes in time-critical missions with day and night capabilities. The Brimstone anti-tank missiles are currently in use in the high-intensity conflict in Ukraine, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine deploy them on ground vehicles.

Germany to form A400M Multinational Air Transport Unit with Hungary

Germany is establishing a new multinational unit to operate the Airbus A400M transport aircraft, with Hungary committed as its first partner.
The Bundeswehr announced on 17 September that the Multinational Air Transport Unit (MNAU) was being established at Wunstorf Air Base in northern Germany, home to the Luftwaffe’s A400M force. 
This new international unit will relocate to Lechfeld Air Base in the far south of the country with 10 of the Luftwaffe’s 53 contracted A400Ms, as well as additional A400Ms that might be provided by partner nations. 

janes

Germany withdraws Tornados from Jordan, deploys radar system in Iraq

In its capacity as a member of the international coalition against Daesh, Germany will withdraw its Tornado reconnaissance aircraft in Jordan and instead install a radar system for air defense in western Iraq.
The jets have until recently been used against Daesh across Syria and Iraq; however, the German Council of Ministers has since adopted amendments that envision changes in the mandate of 700 soldiers serving within the framework of the international coalition.
The country's Tornado reconnaissance jets in Jordan are scheduled to be withdrawn at the end of the month. However, in order for the Tornado jets to retreat, another country must be able to take over reconnaissance flights, according to the plan adopted by the Council of Ministers.
dailysabah

Germany to buy six C-130 Hercules

Germany’s armed forces will spend almost 970 million euros ($1.14 billion) buying six C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, which in contrast to the A400M from Airbus can land on smaller, more rocky landing strips.
The budget committee of the Bundestag lower house of parliament gave the green light for the procurement of the machines from U.S.
The package includes the procurement of spare parts, maintenance of the aircraft in the first three years and the initial training of technical and aviation personnel.
The C-130 Hercules will stationed in Evreux in Normandy where France already operates the same type of aircraft.
Germany sharply curtailed military spending after the end of the Cold War, but began boosting spending again after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.
A report this year found missing spare parts and quality defects mean less than half of Germany’s submarines, warplanes and some other key weapons are ready for use.
reuters

German air force in dire straits - chief of staff

NATO member Germany’s air force is in dire straits and funds are urgently needed to modernise its weaponry and systems, the air force chief of staff said on Wednesday.
“The Luftwaffe is at a low point,” Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, who took over as chief of staff of the air force about a month ago, told 200 industry executives, military officers and lawmakers at an event in Berlin on Wednesday evening.
Gerhartz said his assessment followed visits to various air force sites and discussions with troops that revealed serious deficits in the readiness of aircraft and other equipment.
“Aircraft are grounded due to a lack of spare parts, or they aren’t even on site since they’re off for maintenance by the industry,” he said. He said a 400-hour inspection of the Eurofighter combat jets now took a total of 14 months, twice as long as planned, and this was unacceptable.
His comments followed recent reports by the defence ministry and the German parliament’s military ombudsman that revealed significant gaps in military equipment and personnel.
A February ministry report showed only 39 of 128 Eurofighter jets were available for training and combat use last year on average, and just 26 of 93 older-model Tornado fighter jets.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are finalising budget plans for 2019, but Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, from the SPD, has been resisting moves to accelerate increases in military spending.
Merkel this month forecast steady increases in German military spending in coming years, in line with Berlin’s pledge to meet a NATO target of moving towards spending 2 percent of economic output by 2024, but she gave no details.
Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has been pressing for increased spending after Scholz’s previous longer-term plan called for military outlays to edge lower after reaching 1.3 percent of economic output in 2019, up from 1.2 percent now.
Von der Leyen has pledged that German military spending will reach 1.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2025.
Gerhartz urged lawmakers at the Wednesday event to back a more sustainable spending plan that would allow the air force to rebuild its equipment and improve planning for new weapons and upgrades to existing systems.
af.reuters Sabine Siebold Writing by Andrea Shalal

A400M nations qualify aircraft for air-to-air refuelling

European air forces procuring the A400M are qualifying the transport aircraft for air-to-air refuelling.
The Luftwaffe reported on 25 June that an A400M of its Lufttransportgeschwader (Air Transport Squadron) 62 has conducted aerial refuelling of Spanish Air Force EF-18s to demonstrate the German aircraft’s capabilities to do so.
The German A400M recently flew from its base at Wunstorf to Zaragoza, from where it took off the next day to dispense 14 tonnes of fuel to a total of 10 EF-18s through air-to-air refuelling pods mounted on its wings tips. After a second day of testing, the German A400M’s aerial refuelling capability was proven, according to the Luftwaffe.
Earlier in June, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), the French defence procurement agency, reported that its flight trials unit had conducted a campaign demonstrating a French Air Force A400M’s capability to refuel Rafale combat aircraft. This included tests simulating a failure of the A400M’s engine and flight controls, in the dark with night-vision goggles, and with the Rafale in various configurations.
janes

Germany asking Washington if would let Eurofighter to carry nuclear weapons

Germany is pressing Washington to clarify whether it would let the Eurofighter Typhoon carry nuclear bombs as part of shared Western defences, an issue that could help decide whether Berlin orders more of the jets.
Although not a nuclear power, Germany hosts some U.S. nuclear warheads under NATO’s nuclear-sharing policy and operates a number of Tornado warplanes that can deliver them. New jets will need to be certified by Washington to carry out nuclear missions, a process which can take years.
Germany’s defence ministry sent a letter to the U.S. Defense Department in April asking whether certification of the European jets was possible, how much it would cost, and how long it would take, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Top U.S. Air Force and Pentagon officials are working to respond to the German query.
uk.reuters

Germany’s fighter jet race could start dropping bidders this summer

A multibillion dollar program to replace the German military’s Tornado aircraft is nearing another round of decisions that could narrow the field of bidders.
The due date for a “quality gate” review, as the wide-ranging analysis is called in Bundeswehr jargon, has been on the calendar for this month. But officials now say the exercise could last through the summer.
The discussions are principally about realizing an extended service life for the 1970s-era Tornados, though exactly by how long remains to be seen. Closely linked to that question is an examination of what potential follow-on aircraft are best suited to pick up the legacy planes’ roles in a variety of life-span scenarios.
Officials emphasize that no decision has been made on who will build the new planes to replace roughly 90 Tornados.
A formal competition is expected to begin later this year or early 2019 among those aircraft types still deemed suitable by the government at that time. In the running is the Eurofigher Typhoon, Lockheed Martin’s F-35, and Boeing’s F-15 and F-18.
defensenews

Germany near to lease five Heron TP, To Be based in Israel, only for Intel missions

Germany — Government leaders are close to winning parliamentary approval for the country’s first weapons-capable drone, pitching a plan this week to lease the aircraft now and negotiate for the missiles later.
The plan is to lease five aircraft from manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries, managed by Airbus under a contract to be finalized in June. The fleet would be stationed in Israel and, lacking missiles, simply provide intelligence for German forces.
The deal with industry includes having the aircraft available for deployment into a conflict zone within two years of contract signing.
The Heron TP is something of a trial balloon for Germany in the field of armed drones. An envisioned joint European drone project — with Germany, France, Italy at the core — is widely expected to produce a strike-capable unmanned aircraft by roughly the middle of the next decade. Still, officials are making a distinction in the so-called “Eurodrone” program, arguing that the base configuration will include a reconnaissance capability only, to be augmented by weapons if national policy permits it.
General Atomics last year fought, but lost in court, the Berlin government’s decision to effectively sole-source the drone deal to Israel without giving the U.S. company a chance to bid.
defensenews

Germany lifts Tiger helicopter grounding

Germany has lifted a flight ban on the fleet of Airbus Helicopters Tiger attack rotorcraft operated by its army, but has yet to restart operations with the type.
Berlin grounded the Tiger, except for operational emergencies, following a late-July fatal crash near Gao in Mali in which two servicemen were killed.
Although the investigation into the accident has yet to reach any conclusions, the German defence ministry believes the helicopter is safe to fly again, with certain restrictions in place.
These relate mainly to speed and weight limits, as well as use of the autopilot. It says the constraints on the helicopter's use are "low and acceptable".
"[The inquiry] has cleared a lot of factors," it says. "It is clear to fly again under certain circumstances but we do not know yet the exact reason for the accident."
It says a series of tests will be performed on its 51-strong Tiger fleet, prior to the restart of operational flights.
Little detail has emerged from the crash investigation, but the Tiger appears to have lost its main rotor blades after entering into a sudden steep descent.
It hit the ground around 10s later, and the wreckage was consumed by a post-impact fire.
The defence ministry says the inquiry is looking at the ill-fated Tiger's flight control system as a potential cause of the accident, as its operation appears to have differed from that recorded on similar aircraft.
flightglobal

Germany to deploy eight attack and transport helicopters to Mali

Germany's cabinet on Wednesday approved the deployment of eight attack and transport helicopters as well as 350 additional soldiers to Mali as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission, sources told Reuters.
The helicopters will replace those of the Dutch army, and the additional troops will service and maintain the fleet.
After the deployment, Germany will have some 1,000 soldiers in Mali taking part in the 15,000-strong U.N. mission that oversees a peace deal agreed in 2015 between the government and rebels.
The additional deployments will have to be approved by the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.
The four attack helicopters and a similar number of transport machines will stay in Mali until mid-2018.
reuters

Germany Begins Negotiations With Israel On Leasing Heron TP

The Bundeswehr has begun negotiations with the Israelis on leasing armed Heron TP medium-range long-endurance unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to bridge the gap until it acquires a European UAS by 2025, along with France, Italy and Spain.
Heron TP was chosen in favor of the US Predator/Guardian Eagle armed UAS because the latter will only be available in one and a half years, according to the Bundeswehr, and because the former better meets its technical requirements, such as different weapons suites and a backup landing system. However, the Bundeswehr is keeping its options open in case its requirements are not met and to keep the competition open.
The Bundeswehr aims to lease three to five systems, which will be based in Israel but will be assigned to Taktische Luftwaffengeschwader (Tactical Air Force Squadron) 51 in Jagel, northern Germany, the same unit which is providing Tornado Recce aircraft for Germany's mission to support the international coalition fighting the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Training will be provided in Israel.
aviationweek

German Tigers Leave Afghanistan

The Bundeswehr's Tiger mission ended June 30 with none of the four combat helicopters firing a shot.
Since the mission began January 30, 2013, the Tigers flew 260 missions, clocking around 1,860 hours supporting NATO ground troops and Afghan seccurity forces. Shows of force by the Tigers sufficed to overcome threats, according to the Bundeswehr.
The helicopters are scheduled to return to Germany in August.
aviationweek

Germany's Special Forces Command Set to Fly Eurocopter's EC645 T2 Light Utility Helicopter

Eurocopter and the German Federal Ministry of Defense signed a contract for 15 EC645 T2 Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) to be used by Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK), Germany’s Special Forces Command. With this order, the Bundeswehr has now joined the customer list for the most powerful model in Eurocopter’s proven EC145 family.
The contract, worth a total of 194 million euros, includes not just the helicopters but also the related equipment packages to allow KSK to carry out its special operations missions. Deliveries of the 15 aircraft begin in late 2015 and will be completed by mid-2017.
eurocopter

German Tigers Bound For Afghanistan

The Bundeswehr will for the first time deploy Unterstützungshubschrauber Tiger combat helicopters to Afghanistan starting on 12 December, the German army announced today.

The first two of a total of four Tigers from Kampfhubschrauberregiment (Combat Helicopter Regiment) 36 will be airlifted by leased Antonov An-124 from Leipzig/Halle airport to Mazer-e-Sharif on that date, followed a few days later by the two others.

Once they arrive in Afghanistan, the combat helicopters will be prepared for a full operational capability during the first quarter of 2013. In Afghanistan, the Tigers will be used to support ground troops, performing security and reconnaissance missions, show of force and fire support, serving as an airmobile reserve, and escorting other helicopters.

Nicholas Fiorenza-aviationweek

First Luftwaffe MANTIS Firing

The Bundeswehr conducted its first firing under its own responsibility of its Modular, Automatic and Network capable Targeting and Interception System (MANTIS) counter-rocket, artillery and mortar system last month. The Sept. 5 firing at the Todendorf/Panker training area on the Baltic shot down six target drones launched in rapid succession by larger mother drones.

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