User:Garrulus82/Luftwaffeproject

This article is about the current German air force; for the Wehrmacht air arm see Luftwaffe (Wehrmacht).

For other uses of the word Luftwaffe see Luftwaffe (Disambiguation).

The German air force (German Luftwaffe^ⓘ IPA: ['lʊftvafə]) is the aerial warfare branch of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The Luftwaffe was raised as the West German air force in 1956, a year after the West German parliament (Bundestag) ratified the Paris Agreements which provided for West German sovereignty and made it possible to join NATO and WEU. During the Cold War the Bundeswehr was the backbone of NATO's conventional defense in Central Europe. The Luftwaffe owned significant numbers of tactical combat aircraft and was and still is fully integrated in NATO command structures.

The end of the Cold War and the German reunification marked a historic point for the Luftwaffe and was the start of a process of transformation and reorganization. As the possibility of a major conflict in Europe has become highly unlikely, the Luftwaffe has been significantly reduced in numbers and prepared for peacekeeping and peacemaking tasks. ... first combat ... during the Kosovo War.

Recent years saw a continuing process of restructuring, combined with the introduction of new equipment and a growing number of deployments.

History

The Luftwaffe and its predecessors

The Rudel Scandal

Main article: Rudel Scandal

Mölders controversy

Main article: Werner Mölders

German "Air Force One" controversy

German air force Airbus A310-304 VIP "Konrad Adenauer" in new colours (click to enlarge)

In 2002, former German president Johannes Rau, supported by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, initiated a proposal for new paint scheme for the eight aircraft in service with the Federal Ministry of Defense's special flight used as government shuttles. The previous paint scheme featured the inscription Luftwaffe in large letters above the forward windows on both sides, as the aircraft formally belongs to the German air force. President Rau's proposal was to replace the Luftwaffe inscription with Bundesrepublik Deutschland, to characterize the aircraft used for the transport of politicians as carriers of political representatives, and not as aircraft of a genuine military usage. According to statements by president Rau relayed through his office, this was done to ensure that foreign audiences receive the arrival of such an airplane as the arrival of a high political representative of Germany. Furthermore, government transport aircraft were prominent diplomatic symbol and as such, there should be "written on them, what is in them". Role models for such an endeavour were Air Force One, the aerial transport used by the President of the United States, and the aircraft used by the heads of state of the Russian Federation and France. Furthermore Rau was quoted, that

... he travels to countries, where it isn't politically appropriate to use an aircraft wich sides read Luftwaffe.

The proposal was resisted by ministry of defense officials, military officers and the CDU opposition, citing the enterprise's high cost (ca. 150.000€ for one A310, the earliest date for a new paintwork was scheduled in 2009.) in contrast to a continuously strained military budget and an instance of unneceassary political correctness. Additionally, a presidential decree by the first Federal German president, Theodor Heuss, after which the second governmental A310 is named, would have been to be recalled in order to entirely remove the Luftwaffe inscription. A compromise was worked out and all German air force aircraft used by politicians were to be repainted during a scheduled overhaul, 60 months ahead of their scheduled repainting. The new paintwork features a large inscription Bundesrepublik Deutschland on both sides; the Luftwaffe marking has been reduced in size and moved on the fin. A ribbon in the colours of the German tricolour has been added. The military aircraft registration with the stylized Iron Cross, however, makes these aircraft easily identifiable as belonging to the German air force fleet. In return, it was Theodor Heuss' presidential order, which established the Iron Cross as the emblem of the West German armed forces. In 2007, the German parliament agreed on technical and economical grounds to replace both Airbus A310 VIP governmental transports, which were acquired after reunification from the dissolved state airline of East Germany, by former Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 starting in 2010. The six Challenger CL-601 will be replaced by two Airbus A319CJ and four Bombardier Global 5000. The total cost for the replacement program amounts to €985m . Previous news reports leaked out serious technical problems with the nearly 20 year old Challenger fleet, including emergency landings and life threatening emergencies involving then foreign minister Joschka Fischer.

Structure of the West German air force in 1970 (click to enlarge)

Structure of the German air force in 2008 (click to enlarge)

Raising the Luftwaffe: 1950 - 1970

"Rearming Germany was a long and complicated process. It was especially difficult to create a new German air force. The army generals who dominated the Bundeswehr cadre did not even want an air force but rather a small arm air corps. Moreover, Adenauer's defense staff failed to adequately budget or plan for a new air force. As rearmament began, US Air Force leaders, working closely with the small Luftwaffe staff in West Germany's shadow Defense Ministry, basically took charge of the process to ensure that the Germans built a new Luftwaffe on the American model - a large, multipurpose force organized as an independent service and fully integrated into NATO. The first Bundesluftwaffe commanders allied themselves to the Americans, often in opposition to their army comrades, to overcome the political problems caused by Adenauer's poor defense planning and create a modern air force on American lines."

Current Forces 2001 - 2010

Transformation

Strategic mobility

Until delivery of the A400M the German government chooses to participate in the NATO SALIS agreement, at least until 2015. A permanent solution for over-sized cargo has yet to be found. http://www.casr.ca/bg-airlift-nato.htm

Luftwaffe Airbus A310 MRTT ready for refueling, shown at the Paris Air Show 2007 (click to enlarge)

A Volga-Dnepr Antonov An-124-100 at Düsseldorf Airport (click to enlarge)

Other new weapon systems

UAVs

In 2010, the 51st Reconnaissane Wing "Immelmann" will receive the first UAV HALE (High-Altitude-Long Endurance) SIGINT "EuroHawk"|RQ-4 Global Hawk]]. The other four will join the service in 2013. These drones will replace the Navy operated Breguet Atlantique in the signal intelligence role, which are due to phase out in 2010, leaving a gap in capability. Further EuroHawks equipped for photo-reconnaissance are planned for the future. Also in 2010, five UAV MALE (Medium-Altitude Long Endurance) will be received, although there's no final decision on which system will be procured. Of high probability is the adoption of the MQ-9 Reaper, already in service with the Italian and Royal Air Force<ref>Fishpool, Michael (2008-08-08). "Germany, Italy make initial requests for MQ-9 Reaper". Fightglobal.com. Retrieved 2009-01-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)</ref. The initial capability is to be extended in the future and one squadron of AG 51 to be reequipped with UAVs. Domestic research on UCAVs is also progressing.

Aircraft

==Weaponry