http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest
Is Germany Putting VIPs Ahead of Troops?
Posted by at 10/1/2010 3:48 AM CDT
Yesterday, a German air force Transall C-160 military transport was fired on while landing at Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan.
The aircraft landed and no damage was found. Small arms fire is suspected.
German army helicopters (CH-53s) have also been operating in the region, and face the threats from ground fire on a regular basis.
In recent months, most of the attacks against NATO’s aircraft in Afghanistan stem from rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire.
Incidents of attacks using man-portable air-defense systems (Manpads) have become rare.
But that is not to say the threat from Manpads has disappeared.
And, as one military official I spoke with this week points out, all it takes is one shoot down of a heavily loaded transport or medevac helicopter, and the impact on NATO’s operations could be great.
Given the potential threat, the German army has long shown interest in fitting its helicopters with a laser-based directed infrared countermeasures system, not unlike the efforts the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have undertaken.
The CH-53s have undergone a self-protection enhancement, but not received a Dircm.
The German defense ministry is now starting to wake up to the threat and decided it cannot simply wait for the indigenous development of a Dircm – a Franco-German project is underway to devise an advanced large aircraft infrared countermeasures systems for the A400M and other platforms.
The ministry has therefore approached the Pentagon to buy the Northrop Grumman AAQ-24(V).
But in an eyebrow raising decision, the defense ministry is asking for the equipment not for the CH-53s or C-160s that are flying as part of combat operations on a daily basis, but is asking for the Dircms for the fleet of two A319s and four Bombardier Global 5000s.
The primary mission of those aircraft is VIP transport.
There is no question that Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, as any head of government, deserves a well-protected aircraft but denying troops access to off-the-shelf available equipment in a time of war is a decision that cannot be accepted lightly.
Considering the Bundeswehr has been considerably underfunded for decades now, when the (then grand coalition) government felt the Flugbereitschaft government/VIP squadron needed new aircraft, within weeks they somehow discovered EUR 900 million in the budget to spend on two A340, two A319 and four Global 5000.
Replacing the "ageing" VIP A310 (built 1989) and Challenger (built 1986-). While the rest of the armed forces has to deal with equipment twice or thrice as old.
So I wouldn't wonder about anything.
http://www.ftd.de/politik/deutschland/: ... 78037.html
Merkels Regierungsjets erhalten Laserwaffen
Die neuen Flugzeuge der Bundesregierung sollen mit einem Raketenschirm ausgerüstet werden, um sie vor terroristischen Angriffen mit Boden-Luft-Raketen zu schützen.
Die Technik kommt aus den USA.
Die neuen Flugzeuge der Bundesregierung sollen für 146 Mio. Dollar mit Laserabwehrwaffen ausgerüstet werden.
Die zwei neuen Airbus A319 und vier Bombardier-Flugzeuge sollen so vor Angriffen mit Boden-Luft-Raketen, etwa aus der Hand von Terroristen, geschützt werden.
Nach FTD-Informationen unterrichtete bereits eine Pentagonabteilung den US-Kongress über die Beschaffungsanfrage aus Deutschland.
Das Paket umfasst den Kauf der Abwehrsysteme beim US-Konzern Northrop Grumman sowie die Installation, Wartung und das Training.
Allerdings mutet der Preis für die Abwehrsysteme der deutschen Regierungsflieger relativ hoch an: Das Paket für sechs Maschinen soll schätzungsweise 146 Mio. Dollar kosten.
Umgerechnet wäre das doppelt so viel wie ein nagelneuer Airbus A319 mit einem Listenpreis von 74 Mio. Dollar.
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