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Eurofighter, Leopard 2, Patriots: Many Bundeswehr soldiers relocated to NATO's eastern flank

2022-10-27T15:39:37.167Z


Eurofighter, Leopard 2, Patriots: Many Bundeswehr soldiers relocated to NATO's eastern flank Created: 10/27/2022, 5:31 p.m By: Patrick Mayer Stationed in Rukla, Lithuania: Soldiers from the German Panzer Grenadier Brigade 41 “Vorpommern” during an exercise in October. © PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP The Bundeswehr is practicing in Lithuania for emergencies. From Estonia to Slovakia - where how many Ger


Eurofighter, Leopard 2, Patriots: Many Bundeswehr soldiers relocated to NATO's eastern flank

Created: 10/27/2022, 5:31 p.m

By: Patrick Mayer

Stationed in Rukla, Lithuania: Soldiers from the German Panzer Grenadier Brigade 41 “Vorpommern” during an exercise in October.

© PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP

The Bundeswehr is practicing in Lithuania for emergencies.

From Estonia to Slovakia - where how many German soldiers are on NATO's eastern flank.

And what tasks they have to deter Russia.

Munich/Rukla/Ämari - It's that time again: Soldiers from the German Bundeswehr are training with the 

Enhanced Forward Presence

(eFP)

battalion in Lithuania for emergencies.

The NATO exercise, which runs in the Baltic States at the end of October, is called "Iron Wolf II".

The military maneuvers take place every year, but against the background of the Ukraine war, they are of current importance to deter Russia.

Ukraine war: 40,000 NATO soldiers on the eastern flank to deter Russia

After Moscow attacked its western neighbors in violation of international law, 40,000 soldiers of the transatlantic defense alliance, including parts of the

NATO Response Force (NRF)

, have now been relocated to the eastern flank between the Baltic States and Romania.

According to our research, these currently include more than 1,500 German soldiers from the Bundeswehr.

Merkur.de

explains where they are stationed, what their tasks are and where they come from.

Bundeswehr in Estonia: Air Force monitors NATO airspace over the Baltic States

Estonia:

As part of NATO, soldiers from Germany have been monitoring the airspace over the Baltic States since August.

Specifically: Four Eurofighters from Tactical Air Force Wing 71 "Richthofen" are stationed in Ämari.

The military airfield is around 45 kilometers west of the capital Tallinn (population around 430,000), directly on the Baltic Sea.

There is also a Eurofighter fighter jet from the Nörvenich military airfield near Cologne.

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The German pilots are to ensure the aviation security of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

According to the Air Force, the deployment was part of NATO routine.

"We patrol and in the event of an airspace violation there is an alarm start," said an Air Force spokesman.

A total of 140 soldiers were transferred to Estonia with the fighter jets in midsummer.

As a rule, they are in use for two months and are then replaced, the Air Force spokesman continued.

A German Eurofighter in Ämari.

In Estonia, the air force controls the airspace over the Baltic States on behalf of NATO.

© Luftwaffe/dpa

Bundeswehr in Lithuania: German Leopard 2 and self-propelled howitzers 2000 not far from the Belarusian border

Lithuania:

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda agreed in June that the Bundeswehr would lead an international combat troops brigade that would serve as a forward command post.

Since it was set up in 2017, this combat unit has also been commonly referred to as the “trip wire” for a possible Russian invasion.

Lieutenant Colonel Marco Maulbecker, commander of Panzer Battalion 203 from Augustdorf (NRW), is currently in command of the multinational Battlegroup (NATO designation), which has around 1,600 women and men.

In addition to the Bundeswehr, the battalion includes soldiers from the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg.

Germany provides the majority with 1000 to 1200, the Bundeswehr coordinates the logistics.

The NATO battle group works closely with Colonel Aurelijus Motiejūnas' Lithuanian

Iron Wolf

brigade, with whom it is holding the exercise currently described.

In addition to the battalion for the 

enhanced Forward Presence

(eFP)

, the Bundeswehr is to provide the core of a rapidly deployable brigade for Lithuania of 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers.

The Panzergrenadierbrigade 41 "Vorpommern" from Neubrandenburg is intended for this task, which will station some of its soldiers in Lithuania, but will have a large part of the weapon systems and manpower in Germany.

Soldiers and military vehicles from Jägerbataillon 413 Torgelow (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) are also taking part in the current exercise.

With several self-propelled howitzers in Lithuania in 2000: The German Bundeswehr is helping to secure NATO's eastern flank.

© IMAGO / photo library

It is currently difficult to understand how many German tanks and artillery systems are available in Lithuania.

In February, shortly before the outbreak of war, six Type 2000 self-propelled howitzers were transferred to the base in Rukla, which is only around 110 kilometers from the Belarusian border.

In 2017, at the start of the NATO mission, Germany transferred 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and six Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Lithuania.

Recently, the light anti-aircraft system "Ozelot" was added.

Bundeswehr in Slovakia: Joint Patriot anti-aircraft association with the Netherlands

Slovakia:

By the end of October, around 300 air force soldiers were sent to Slovakia as part of the German-Dutch anti-aircraft missile

association (FlaRakVbd eVAenhanced Vigilance Activities SVK)

to increase air defense capabilities, the Bundeswehr said.

The soldiers operate so-called "Patriot" anti-aircraft systems with automatic friend-foe recognition.

The "Patriot" system can track up to 100 air targets simultaneously with its radar and engage up to five military targets at the same time.

It consists of ...

  • a fire control center from which firefighting is conducted (Bundeswehr),

  • a multifunction radar device on a truck,

  • up to eight launch devices on as many trucks, each of which can hold up to eight guided missiles,

  • and a directional radio squad with generators and an antenna mast system.

The soldiers are stationed as part of the multinational "Battlegroup Slovakia" under Czech command at the Sliač location in central Slovakia with its approximately 5.5 million inhabitants.

(pm)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-10-27

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