Air Defender 23

Air Defender 23 is the name of a major maneuver of armed forces of member states of NATO and other European countries in European airspace in 2023. It lasted 10 days, from 12 June to 23 June 2023. Although Air Defender 23 is not an exercise of NATO, but initiated by the Bundeswehr, it is the largest exercise of air forces announced since NATO was announced.[1][2] The maneuver took place in the airspace of the Federal Republic of Germany and was held under the leadership of the German Air Force. It involved up to 10,000 soldiers and 250 aircraft from 25 countries.[1][3][4]

Air Defender 23
Airbus A400M "54+21" of the German Air Force with Air Defender 2023 special painting
Date12–23 June 2023 (2023-06-12 – 2023-06-23)
LocationEurope
Organized byGerman Air Force

Organization and process
Map of practice areas, airfields and exercise missions to Estonia and Romania; NATO area in yellow

The exercise scenario of Air Defender 23 is that after an attack from the East, Germany asked for assistance according to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and the allies within NATO reacted according to an alliance.[1][3][4] At the beginning of the exercise, the preparation of which was started in 2018,[1][5] around 100 aircraft of the US armed forces are moved to Germany from the United States alone,[3] most of the Air National Guard from 42 States.[4][6]

Before the exercise began, however, there were already relocations from aircraft from the US for Air Defender 23.[1][7] In German airspace, the training flights take place in three sectors; In the north practice area above the German Bay, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen, and Lower Saxony, in the East exercise area, d. H. About the new federal states and over the German part of the Baltic Sea as well as in the south practice area via Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and Rhineland-Palatinate. The exercises take place exclusively on weekdays and during the day.

Each exercise area in Germany involves flying by 40–80 aircraft once a day. Around 250 starts of military aircraft are planned every day in Germany. During the day, the three airspace sectors are closed to civil aircraft at certain times. For the exercise, the military airfields in Wunstorf (in Lower Saxony), Schleswig, Hohn (both in Schleswig-Holstein), and Lechfeld (in Bavaria) are used. The airfields Laage (in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Geilenkirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Spangdahlem (in Rhineland-Palatinate), Neuburg (Bavaria), Volkel (in the Netherlands), Krzesiny (in Poland) and Čáslav (in the Czech Republic) are also included in the large exercise.[3][8] During the maneuver, daily return flights between Germany and Estonia and Germany and Romania are also carried out as part of exercise missions.[1][4] In the East practice area, the defense against the port of Rostock and critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea (e.g. nautical cable) is simulated.[2]

According to the Bundeswehr, the exercise – exceptions that are to take place in the East practice area – takes place at flight heights between 2,500 and 15,000 meters.[4] According to the Bundeswehr, the largest mobile fuel camp in German history was built for the large maneuver on the Bundeswehr on the air base Wunstorf. It has a storage capacity of 2.4 million liters of fuel.[9]

Involved States

Below are listed the exercise participants and the aircraft they participated with:[10]

Aircraft and drones
Two U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft prior to the maneuver

According to the Bundeswehr, a drone type (General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper) and the following aircraft take part in the maneuver:[4]

References
  1. Stephan Stuchlik (7 June 2023). "Was das Luftwaffen-Manöver "Air Defender" für Deutschland bedeutet". Tagesschau (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  2. NDR. "Air Defender 23: Großübung simuliert Angriff auf Rostocker Hafen" (in German). Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  3. NDR (7 June 2023). "Air Defender 2023: Was die Luftwaffen-Übung für den Norden bedeutet". ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  4. "Air Defender 23". bundeswehr.de (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  5. "Air Defender 2023 – Jahre der Vorbereitung, um 200 Flugzeuge in die Luft zu bekommen" (in German). 28 March 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  6. "U.S. Air National Guard aircraft start arriving in Germany for Air Defender 23". 6 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  7. NDR. "Air Defender 2023: Die ersten Flugzeuge landen in SH" (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  8. "BMDV – Im Juni: Luftwaffenübung über Deutschland". 1 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  9. "Größtes Feldtanklager aller Zeiten". bundeswehr.de (in German). 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  10. "Air Defender 23". www.bundeswehr.de. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
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