In June, the largest deployment exercise of air forces since the founding of NATO will take place in Germany. Around 10,000 troops and nearly 240 military aircraft will take part in the manoeuvre entitled "Air Defender". The Inspector of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, gave insights into the plans at the beginning of this week in Hanover.

Reinhard Bingener

Political correspondent for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen, based in Hanover.

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Near the capital of Lower Saxony is the Wunstorf Air Base, the major logistics hub of the manoeuvre. In just a few days, the first American transport planes will land there and bring in material for "Air Defender". The actual manoeuvre will then take place from 12 to 23 June. 25 countries will participate, mainly NATO member countries, but also Sweden, whose accession to the North Atlantic alliance continues to be delayed by Turkey, as well as Japan, which, however, is sending only a few observers.

Gerhartz calls the maneuver a "signal of transatlantic solidarity." True, the Air Force inspector does not want to explicitly state to whom this signal is addressed. But it should be clear that the addressees are primarily based in Moscow. "Yes, we are an absolutely defensive alliance," emphasizes the 57-year-old Gerhartz. "But in the event of an attack, this alliance would be able to defend itself."

Planning since 2018

The plans for "Air Defender" date back to 2018, when Gerhartz took office at the head of the Air Force. In view of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the maneuver has now taken on a new meaning and dimension. NATO wants to demonstrate that its air forces would be able to act in the airspace over Europe in the event of a crisis. Until the end of the Cold War, this clout was not in question, because at that time Washington had permanently stationed strong air forces in Europe. However, this presence has since been scaled back. The European NATO countries also have numerous aircraft that could be used as "first responders" in the event of a crisis. But Gerhartz also makes it clear: "In the end, it's the Americans who make the difference." That is why NATO wants to show that support from the other side of the Atlantic is ready "within hours" if necessary.

For "Air Defender" the United States will send a total of about a hundred military aircraft. In addition to their proven F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, these will also be modern F-35s, of which 35 have recently been ordered by the Bundeswehr. The Air Force will deploy the second largest contingent for the maneuver with seventy aircraft and will be the only country to provide helicopters.

According to Gerhartz, the goal is to practice combined air operations and thus strengthen the "interoperability" of the associations and nations involved. One of the scenarios envisaged is the evacuation of a contested airport. "One has to reconnaissance, the other does escort protection, the next is in a defense role – all of this has to be practiced together in this complexity." The defense against an attack by drones and cruise missiles is also being rehearsed. "They can also be defended from the air, not just by systems on the ground," explains Gerhartz.

The exercises will take place mainly in three airspaces over Germany. There is an area "East" that stretches from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania down to Saxony. A "southern" area that stretches from Bavaria to the American base in Spangdahlem in Rhineland-Palatinate, from where the F-35s involved will take off because of the infrastructure there. However, the bulk of aircraft movements will take place in the "North" area, which includes a smaller part of the Baltic Sea and large areas of the North Sea and its coastal areas. "That's where we disturb the least," says Lieutenant General Gerhartz, who also wants to take away citizens' worries about too much disruption.

The flights would not take place on weekends and nights, but during the day on ten weekdays and then only with a time delay of three hours each. Studies by the German air traffic control have shown that no flight cancellations of civil aviation are to be feared, but at most delays "of a few minutes". As a precautionary measure, the "Air Defender" manoeuvre was also scheduled so that it would be completed in time for the start of the summer holidays in the first federal states.