GÖTTINGEN, Germany — The German Federal Cabinet on Tuesday decided to involve the Bundeswehr in the international fight against the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). in Syria. According to the Defense Ministry in Berlin, six Tornado reconnaissance aircraft will be stationed at the Turkish air base of Incirlik, as well as a German Airbus tanker, which is made available to the coalition against IS.
In addition, a frigate will escort the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle while German satellite data will be delivered to the partners. The mandate for the mission came at the request of France, which wants to win partners for the fight against the IS terrorists after the attacks in Paris.
The Federal Parliament, the Bundestag still must has to approve the mandate to post for the posting of a maximum of 1,200 soldiers, which shall apply for a period of one year, beginning Jan. 1. 1st of January 2016. Should If the Parliament passed the mandate on Friday, as expected, the first two Tornados and a tanker could be flown to Turkey already next week, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
However, under
on basis of
the mandate, the operation will not start until 2016. Furthermore, the analysis unit for the reconnaissance aircraft currently is deployed in Spain for a NATO exercise and needs to be transported to Turkey. Of the six so-called Recce Tornados at Incirlik, no more than two would
shall
go on reconnaissance mission simultaneously, while two would be held in back-off mode. The remaining two aircraft form the reserve.
According to the spokesman, “several hundred soldiers” are scheduled for the aerial reconnaissance, while 100 to 200 soldiers will be deployed for the air-to-air refueling. On the frigate, about 250 men and women do service.
“Several dozen” German military personnel would
should
also begin their work in the various headquarters of the coalition. The upper limit of 1,200 soldiers for the mission includes a manpower buffer in case of relocations, the spokesman said.
Technically the German forces join
in
the international coalition against the IS, which is directed from the US CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida. According to the German Ministry of Defense, Navy command for the coalition is set up in Kuwait, while the Air Force is controlled from headquarters in Qatar. From there,
also
the German Air Force also receives orders.
The German soldiers will be armed for self-protection where necessary. The Tornados are to be equipped with passive defense devices as well as air-to-air missiles.
On request from Paris, Germany will synchronize its SAR-Lupe radar satellite with the French Helios optical reconnaissance satellites. Therefore, the German satellite must be placed in a different orbit to cover a roughly 30-kilometer-wide strip in the target area.
While the reconnaissance results of the Tornados should be provided after preselection of the Bundeswehr to the international coalition, France and Germany will decide together what is to be done with the satellite data. The transfer of intelligence to Russia is not planned, the spokesman said.
For the fight against the IS,
some
about €
EUR
134 million (US $141.7 million) from the budget of the Ministry of Defense is planned in the coming year. The new mandate comes on top of last week’s decision to relieve the French forces in Mali.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced that to this end, the German contingent in the country — at present about 200 soldiers — will increase to 650 soldiers maximum. She also wants to beef up the training mission to the
Peshmerga
Kurdish forces in northern Iraq to 150 soldiers from 100 at present.
The German forces also agreed to provide substantial medical support in case of a major “damaging event” within France.
Email:
lhoffman@defensenews.com
