Yeah, I tend to agree...but it was fun to through the thought into the mix
I'd expect a NATO purchase of E-7 (or something similar on an Airbus airframe) to replace the current NATO E-3 force, eventually. Germany has no particular need for AWACS outside of the NATO area, so I don't see them wanting their own aircraft.
Analysts predict Berlin will focus much of its investment on domestic companies such as Düsseldorf-based arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and Nuremberg-based Diehl Group, which makes aircrafts and parts. Defence analyst Francis Tusa predicts up to 80pc of the spending will be reserved for German corporations.
“The Germans will have to bend over backwards to show this money is going to German companies. They've said they're buying a new batch of the Puma infantry combat vehicle for about €3bn,” he says.
“Rheinmetall has been exporting its goods from its subsidiaries, but it will take time to ramp up. If you've scaled your domestic production for a low level, it takes you some time to do that. But Rheinmetall is an incredibly agile company and it's very aggressive.”
The remaining purchases, such as tank ammunition and new fighter jets, are likely to be from manufacturers in the US, France and Britain. Tusa points to European missile maker MBDA as one company that could secure more business. Its Meteor air-to-air missile was already tested by Germany last year.
He believes there will also be a big focus on maintaining the equipment Germany already has, and retooling it to prepare for active use.
"They need to go back to their maintenance contractors and say: you know we were happy with having only six of these helicopters being available? We actually need twenty-six available," says Tusa.
Currently, the German army has 701 aircraft, six submarines, 1,340 tanks and personnel carriers and around 54,000 soldiers.
Its long lack of aggression in expanding its military budget is not only a result of its past, according to Tusa, but also for economic reasons.
"During the Cold War, German defence spending was quite high, because they understood that they couldn't rely on everyone else," he says. "But after the fall of the Berlin Wall, they just cut everything.”
“Ultimately they just wanted to spend more on social programmes. That was a choice."
As Russian missiles reap devastation on cities in Ukraine, Germany is now taking a very different path.
1) - Actually you're right, my mistake, thought it was the 1,000lber that they bought. Can't imagine their stocks are that massive either way, so it might well be a simple increase of the stockpile.SO, lots to cover there. Just a few items:
1) I thought that Germany bought the 500-pound Laser JDAM (GBU-54/38), which is in the process of being integrated on the F-35
Source: https://www.airforcemag.com/weapons-platforms/gbu-54-ldjam/ and https://www.defencetalk.com/military/forums/t/luftwaffe-news-and-updates.8025/
2) AARGM-ER is being integrated on the F-35A as of late 2020. If Germany opts for this, the direct attack SIAW seems like a logical complement for DEAD.
Source: https://www.militaryaerospace.com/rf-analog/article/14188234/radar-electronic-warfare-ew-missile
BUT
2a) In addition (or as an alternative) to AARGM-ER, there's an interesting possibility. Meteor is claimed to be adaptable to SEAD as a software-only modification, That seems like it would be ideal for Typhoon ECR, since it could carry Meteor-ARM on the existing fuselage stations and save the wings for jammer pods, SPEAR-EW, or DEAD weapons.
3) WVR AAM -- would it be cheaper to buy a specialized inventory of missiles for F-35 or integrate the existing inventory? Kind of a coin toss, it seems to me. Though IRIS-T is supposed to be directly compatible with any Sidewinder platform, so it should be a pretty simple integration for external carriage.
4) SPEAR -- this seems very likely, especially if Typhoon ECR goes forward with SPEAR-EW.
View: https://twitter.com/BMVg_Bundeswehr/status/1511758982762962957The Budget Committee of the Bundestag approved the armament of the Heron TP today. A total of around 150 million euros are earmarked for armament, training and maintenance. In this way we are improving the protection of soldiers on deployments abroad.
Here's an announcement about the arming of German's Heron TP UAVs.
Curious to see what Germany decides to use for armament. Supposedly, India also ordered armed Heron, but details are pretty scarce.
(Translation via Google):
View: https://twitter.com/BMVg_Bundeswehr/status/1511758982762962957The Budget Committee of the Bundestag approved the armament of the Heron TP today. A total of around 150 million euros are earmarked for armament, training and maintenance. In this way we are improving the protection of soldiers on deployments abroad.
I'd be very surprised if it was. 150m EUR isn't a huge sum of money (even with the tiny number of Heron TP Germany has) not sure if it will cover integration of a new complex munition type, training, ongoing maintenance etc and a stockpile of munitions.For the German Heron-TPs, my money is on some member of the Rafael Spike family though. The missile is already in German service, and one source that I can't find anymore suggested there is a requirement for operator-in-the-loop guidance. I suppose SAL would sort of qualify, but to me that indicates a wire or RF datalink and the aviation-capable second-generation Spike-LR/ER/NLOS derivatives fit nicely.
I'd be very surprised if it was. 150m EUR isn't a huge sum of money (even with the tiny number of Heron TP Germany has) not sure if it will cover integration of a new complex munition type, training, ongoing maintenance etc and a stockpile of munitions.
At least it shows IAI have a sense of humour in their naming department!Here's an announcement about the arming of German's Heron TP UAVs.
Curious to see what Germany decides to use for armament. Supposedly, India also ordered armed Heron, but details are pretty scarce.
(Translation via Google):
View: https://twitter.com/BMVg_Bundeswehr/status/1511758982762962957The Budget Committee of the Bundestag approved the armament of the Heron TP today. A total of around 150 million euros are earmarked for armament, training and maintenance. In this way we are improving the protection of soldiers on deployments abroad.
Looks like IAI are going to get an order for Sledgehammer...
Thought the proposal Kongsberg had come up with was encapsulated JSM rather than NSM. The design of JSM was more suited to fitting in a 21 inch torpedo tube.NSM for U-212? That's a new one for me!
Thought the proposal Kongsberg had come up with was encapsulated JSM rather than NSM. The design of JSM was more suited to fitting in a 21 inch torpedo tube.NSM for U-212? That's a new one for me!
Must be a quid pro quo with Norway....you buy 212CD we buy NSM, encapsulated JSM.....wonder if we'll see JSM purchased for F-35A as well, Germany hasn't had an air launched AShM since Kormarant 2 was retired. Also makes you wonder if we'll finally see P-8 get JSM as well, as that has been very quiet for years, the Australian's seem to be favouring LRASM these days... (if the Norwegian's are smart they'll have driven a hard bargain for purchasing 212CD...)
Kongsberg have been proposing it for an age, they had some collateral/models at arms expos years ago, think it emerged at a similar time as NSM being launched from helo's appeared as a concept (which I believe is funded and underway at present). Just needed someone to fund it. But it was definitely an encapsulated JSM rather than NSM. NSM wouldn't fit in a 21 inch tube, but the work done on JSM to fit in F-35 internal bays meant it could be done.Haven't seen anything about NSM being sub-launched except Naval Technology and National Interest (which I don't consider great sources most of the time).