FLUG REVUE March 2004: Luftwaffe needs A400M

Air Vice Marshal Klaus-Peter Stieglitz, Chief of the Air Staff, German Air Force

A400M: “SIGNIFICANT CAPABILITY BOOST FOR THE BUNDESWEHR”

For the Bundeswehr, the A400M procurement is of enormous importance. But the new type will not be able to handle every mission, as the Luftwaffe's new Chief of the Air Staff explained to FLUG REVUE.

FLUG REVUE: What extra capability will the introduction of the A400M bring to the Luftwaffe and the Federal Armed Forces as a whole?

Air Vice Marshal Klaus-Peter Stieglitz: The workhorse that the Luftwaffe currently uses to cover the Bundeswehr's military air transport requirements, the C-160 Transall, was designed in the 1960s and was intended for deployment in a central European crisis scenario against the background of the Cold War. In line with the specific operational requirement at that time, the C-160 was optimised as a tactical medium-range transport aircraft with excellent takeoff and landing capabilities, enabling it to operate out of emergency airfields.

The fundamental changes to the security situation that have occurred since the beginning of the 1990s and the new challenges that the German Armed Forces face as a result have shown up all too quickly the limits on the C-160's capability in the area of strategic and operational mobility, for which it was not designed. Because of its low speed, range and altitude, and especially because of the limitations on its payload and cargo bay capacity, this transport aircraft, which has now been in service for over 30 years, can only cover a limited subset of the required capability spectrum. And it can only do that at high and rising costs in terms of replacement parts and personnel.

Germany has undertaken to NATO and the EU to make appropriate contributions of rapidly deployable forces for conflict prevention and crisis management, amongst other scenarios. On top of this, Germany provides support services for UN and OSCE operations and short-term assistance when needed in cases of emergency and disaster. This means that there is a simultaneous requirement for a capability to deploy personnel and materiel and to provide follow-on logistical support even over strategic distances. This central challenge to the German Armed Forces of the future cannot be tackled until the A400M, with the operational and strategic mobility that it enables, is available in adequate numbers.

On the basis of the distinctive tactical capabilities of the A400M, this aircraft is equally capable of transporting heavy and difficult loads, even under threat to emergency airfields. The A400M can operate entirely autonomously, including by night and in poor visibility, without the need for ground-based support. These special tactical capabilities are equally important for airborne operations, evacuation missions, the deployment of special forces and support operations.

Moreover, the capability of the A400M to deliver air refuelling to fighter and transport aircraft and helicopters will drastically improve the deployability and operational range of these systems. Thus, only when the A400M joins forces in its tanker role with the air refuelling capable CSAR variant of the NH90 helicopter, which is also the process of being procured, will we be able to guarantee a rescue and evacuation capability over great distances, something which is already sorely missed today, for example in Afghanistan.

Against the background of the considerable capability boost I have described that will accrue to all the Armed Forces in terms of their core functions, especially the rapid deployment and securing of initial operations, the procurement and timely entry into service of the A400M are indisputably among the central and most important projects of the Bundeswehr.

FR: Many people feel that the number of A400M's to be procured is excessive. Will this expensive aircraft really be used to capacity?

Air Vice Marshal Stieglitz: When one is talking about a military system, questions about peacetime utilisation are irrelevant. The Luftwaffe is geared up to military operations. The A400M is not being purchased for basic military operations, but it must be viewed solely in the context of long-term military operations. We are talking here about a period of between 30 and 40 years. No one would put the question of the peacetime utilisation of fighter aircraft, combat tanks or submarines amongst the topmost priorities.

Again, military transport aircraft are specifically equipped and fitted for their special tasks in extreme situations. That is why they are generally more expensive to develop and purchase then civil transport aircraft. As they are expensive to operate and, unlike commercial operations, higher utilisation during basic operations is not an advantage but, on the contrary, is associated with high costs, their use in basic operations is confined to training and maintaining crew operational readiness to the required extent.

Rather, their value must be measured in terms of the core function of the Armed Forces and the military tasks resulting from this. Here one has to consider the operational conditions and the requirement for strategic and operational mobility, tactical mobility and support for air refuelling. Recent experience by partner nations during operations of the order of magnitude for which the German Armed Forces are planning has confirmed once again that military air transport and air refuelling capacity constitute critical bottlenecks for the conduct of operations and that the demands placed on them regularly exceed normal loading limits.

No nation comparable to Germany is financially in a position to procure modern transport aircraft in numbers commensurate to the operational requirement. That is why, against the background of the overall budgetary constraints and despite the greater numbers needed by the Bundeswehr to perform the functions expected of the armed forces, the numbers of A400M's to be procured have been reduced to 60 aircraft. The result is that where there are competing missions and tasks, it will be necessary to prioritise, and the delays and operational disadvantages that this causes will have to be accepted.

FLUG REVUE: The strategic transport of very large loads, such as are currently often carried by leased An-124's, cannot be covered by the A400M. What possible long-term solutions are there in this area?

Air Vice Marshal Stieglitz: The entry into service of the A400M will essentially close the existing capability gap in the Bundeswehr in the area of “strategic air transport”.

On the other hand, the capabilities of the A400M match the operational requirements that the Bundeswehr has agreed with the participating partner nations. This means that, apart from a few exceptions in the case of “outsized cargo”, it will be possible to transport the full spectrum of equipment envisaged for the airborne deployment of the German Armed Forces with the A400M transport aircraft. And finally, even in these few exceptional cases, the A400M will still be able to carry bulky systems like helicopters if they are partially dismantled.

If, notwithstanding, it should still be necessary in isolated cases to transport loads which exceed the capabilities of the A400M, then up to a point we shall be able to call on international multinational co-operative agreements with partners who have appropriate large capacity aircraft. In this connection, however, it should be noted that even after the entry into service of the A400M, whenever the situation requires, it may still be necessary on grounds of capacity and also sensible from a financial point of view to call on chartered solutions.

Karl Schwarz was talking to Air Vice Marshal Stieglitz.

From page 58 of FLUG REVUE 3/2004

Last updated 12 February 2004

FLUG REVUE, Ubierstr. 83, 53173 Bonn, Germany