In June, NATO staged an extensive military exercise in German airspace. Germany is using this exercise to consolidate its position in NATO and to send an unmistakable signal of deterrence !

Multinational exercise Air Defender 2023

-Press release PIZ Air Force-

The first planes have landed in Germany! From June 12 to June 23, 2023, the multinational exercise Air Defender 2023 (AD23), initiated, organized and led by the Air Force, will take place in Germany and the neighboring European airspace.

With more than 10,000 participants from 25 nations and over 250 aircraft involved, AD23 is the largest air force relocation exercise since NATO was founded.

Together with our partners, we practice the collective defense of common values ​​such as freedom, democracy and prosperity. The allied air forces protect European airspace as “first responders” in a possible conflict.

Air superiority in the alliance is the key to protecting the population and its own forces. Exercise AD23 has a purely defensive character, but will make the strong cohesion within the alliance and the transatlantic unity visible to the outside world. As the organizer of the exercise, we are also demonstrating Germany's reliability as an alliance partner. This is extremely important, especially given the current geopolitical situation.

The aircraft will take off from different airfields in Germany and Europe and then practice in three training airspaces in German airspace, which will alternately be closed to civil air traffic for a few hours per day. This is a time-limited maneuver; During the two-week practice period, the closures apply on nine net days: from Monday, June 12, 2023, to Friday, June 16, 2023 and from Monday, June 19, 2023 to Thursday, June 22, 2023 (also note the attached graphic for the training airspaces)

MIMIKAMA
The United States Air National Guard is moving 100 aircraft to Europe. At Air Defender 23, a total of 25 nations are practicing joint air operations in three airspaces over Germany

The main areas used in Germany will be the airfields in Jagel and Hohn in Schleswig-Hollstein, Wunstorf in Lower Saxony, Spangdahlem in Rhineland-Palatinate and Lechfeld in Bavaria.

Please see the attached stationing overview to see which aircraft types will be stationed where.

MIMIKAMA

There is also a message from the air traffic control union

-Press release GdF-

Air traffic control union sees problems with major military exercise for civil aviation

Referring to the article “Military exercise: Air force does not expect flight cancellations” in the Süd-deutsche Zeitung from May 23, 2023, with regard to the major NATO exercise from June 12-23, 2023, the air traffic control union e. V. (GdF) states the following:

It is inexplicable to us how the Air Force inspector, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, comes to claim that no flight cancellations on the civilian side are to be expected during the exercise period and that at most flight delays of a few minutes are to be expected.

In fact, simulations by Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS) - which are also known to the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVG) - have shown that for the duration of the major NATO exercise, there will be total delays of up to 50,000 (!!!) minutes every day in the best case scenario must be calculated per day. In addition, it is expected that up to 100 civilian flights per day will not reach their destination due to the night closure of various airports in Germany. It is therefore very likely that these aircraft will not be available at the planned location on time the following day.

What this means for the following days is probably self-explanatory.

According to our information, civil aviation, airlines and airports, were extensively informed about this fact by both the BMVG and the DFS weeks ago, whereupon numerous civil flights during the exercise period were immediately canceled by the airlines from the individual flight programs for the exercise period. “The Air Defender military exercise will of course have a massive impact on the course of civil aviation. Claims to the contrary are unrealistic and have no basis,” said the federal chairman of the GdF, Matthias Maas.

And further: “In addition, the DFS staff will reach their limits during this period, as targeted personnel deployment planning attempts to minimize these effects as much as possible. During the exercise period, DFS will increase its personnel capacity as much as possible through additional shifts and a lot of overtime in order to minimize the delay situation as much as possible.”

The GdF would like to make it unmistakably clear that, given the political situation (Ukraine war and other crises), such an exercise, which has been planned since 2018, is necessary and has a high educational value for NATO. The fact that Germany is taking responsibility here, as the Air Force inspector emphasized in the article, is also extremely welcome.

What we would like to prevent from the outset, however, is that in the course of this exercise our members and all colleagues at German air traffic control will be held responsible if the expected effects on civil aviation occur. “The air traffic controllers and flight data processors in the affected airspace will be fully committed to minimizing the delays as best as possible. I call on those responsible at the BMVG not to close their eyes to the facts and not to lull the passengers and airlines, who will be affected in large numbers, into a false sense of security about the consequences for air traffic,” concluded Maas.


The German Peace Society – United War Opponents Association warns of an escalation in a statement

-Press release German Peace Society-

Before the NATO war exercise “Air Defender”: Peace Society warns of escalation

The German Peace Society – United War Resisters (DFG-VK) is calling for the cancellation of the planned major NATO exercise. The military muscle flexing threatens a direct confrontation between the military alliance and Russia. The peace organization is also calling for de-escalation from the Russian military - for example by withdrawing from Ukraine.

10,000 military personnel from 25 nations and 220 aircraft are to take part in the major NATO exercise “Air Defender” from June 12th to 23rd, 2023: “The mega war exercise must be canceled,” demands Ralf Buchterkirchen, federal spokesman for the DFG-VK. “In 1983, the NATO maneuver 'Able Archer' almost led to a nuclear war - today the danger of a direct war between Russia and NATO is again enormous: a misunderstanding or the wrong push of a button can lead to total escalation," warns Buchterkirchen.

In view of the current security policy tensions and the war in Ukraine, the DFG-VK federal spokesman calls for de-escalation: “Negotiations between all parties to the conflict are needed, instead of military maneuvers: Russia must immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw its troops from the country, NATO must "Cancel their 'Air Defender' exercise and further rearmament in Eastern Europe," said Buchterkirchen. The DFG-VK condemns Russia's withdrawal from the Treaty on “Conventional Armed Forces in Europe” (CFE Treaty), which was announced on Monday: “We are calling for disarmament initiatives and also international treaties,” explains DFG-VK federal spokesman Buchterkirchen. The peace organization had already criticized war exercises by Russia and NATO in 2019. In February of this year, the DFG-VK was involved in the large “Stop the Killing in Ukraine” alliance and organized numerous anti-war actions ( www.stoppt-das-toeten.de ).

With the upcoming “Air Defender” maneuver, the DFG-VK is not only worried about a direct confrontation: “Anyone who hears a military plane or sees it overhead in June should remember that it wastes enormous amounts of tax money every second, which can be spent on social welfare, for example. , education or health sector and in climate protection are missing,” points out Michael Schulze von Glaßer, political director of the DFG-VK. The federal government must finally rethink and save money on the military: “People’s actual security-related problems cannot be solved with the military,” said Schulze von Glaßer.

The DFG-VK also draws attention to the dangers for participants in war exercises and for the population: It was only in mid-May that a Learjet used for target display crashed at a Bundeswehr airfield in Schleswig-Holstein - both pilots were killed. There have been repeated casualties during war exercises in the past.


Sources:

Also read:


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )