It’s the biggest challenge for the German Air Force in decades: after four years of preparation, the air maneuvers have begun NATOAir Defender 23. This is the largest exercise of its kind in the history of the coalition. From June 12 to 23, 2023, Germany will become the logistics center. There will be up to 250 aircraft stationed at six military airfields in the country and 25 countries will participate.
The United States will send 100 aircraft across the Atlantic. In the air, the crisis situation training will take place in three areas: over northern Germany and the North Sea, in the east and in a smaller sector in southern Germany. Instead, these areas will be closed to civilian air traffic for several hours a day.
Scheduled flight operations are part of the challenge: European skies, with Germany at the center, are among the most heavily used airspaces in the world. Therefore, aviation experts are very careful to ensure that civil air traffic can continue to operate, as far as possible, undisturbed, in parallel with Air Defender 23.
German airports will extend their operating hours during the ten days of the maneuvers, including at night. says the highest-ranking pilot in the German Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, who does not, however, rule out the possibility of delays in arrivals and exits.
deterrent sign
Anyway, with an air defense exercise in the middle of regular flight operations, NATO also wants to send a “political deterrent signal”Torben Arnold, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), says in an interview with DW. “Of course, it sends a clear signal that even though the airspace is very busy, we are ready to show that we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” says Arnold.
More than ten thousand participating soldiers from NATO countries will take part in many of the planned exercises. Also down to earth. For example, “evacuating airports” is part of the exercise routine, Ingo Gerhartz explains.
Apparently, this exercise has been added to the maneuver plan yet They lived through the days of chaos at Kabul AirportIn 2021, when the United States and its allies scrambled to finish the job in Afghanistan. Other scenarios include air support for ground forces, combat in the sky against enemy aircraft, as well as the interception of medium-range missiles by NATO fighters. To do this, it sends American troops across the Atlantic F-35 stealth bomber, the alliance’s most modern fighter. In the North Sea, “defense against submarines or enemy ships” is also being tested, says Arnold, the SWP expert. And the enemy, says Arnold, “can attack us not only by land, but also by sea.”
maneuvers during the Ukrainian counterattack
When thinking of “enemy,” many people in Europe obviously think of Russia and its massive offensive against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
However, when presenting the Air Defender 23 plans to the media in Berlin, Luftwaffe inspector Ingo Gerhartz did his best not to mention the opponent from the east at any point. Speaking on the issue, the US Ambassador to Germany, Amy Guttmann, said: “Prevention through preparedness is more important today than ever.”
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