'ZEITENWENDE' - THE TURNING POINT!

In an exclusive interaction, Chief of Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz speaks with Consulting & Contributing Editor Manish Kumar Jha, in New Delhi on a comprehensive range of issues concerning German forces' modernisation, NATO's role, military acquisitions, and Germany's presence in the Indo-Pacific building a new era of military cooperation with India.

THE 'ZEITENWENDE' SPEECH OF GERMAN CHANCELLOR TO the Bundestag, at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, signified the changing times while reversing Germany's previously cautious defence policy. In this interview, Lt General Ingo Gerhartz, Chief of German Air Force refers to this 'historic turning point' as a cornerstone of the ongoing German military modernisation.

With Zeitenwende, Germany aims to restore the glorious legacy of the Luftwaffe for its air power and resurrect its technological prowess with new generation acquisitions like the stealthy fifth generation F-35 and Patriot air defence systems while simultaneously modernising its assets with "supersonic speed". In a sweeping move, Germany has raised the defence budget by 2 per cent of the GDP with an additional fund of a staggering Euro 100 billion to modernise its ageing assets. On August 15, the US announced the sale of 600 Patriot air defence missiles to Germany, at an estimated cost $5 billion. At the same time, the Eurofighter, as the frontier combat jet, will undergo massive upgradation for electronic warfare purposes.

For the Luftwaffe and German military, it is equally a new era for Indo-German partnerships which also echo a historic bond. The unfolding of the next-generation submarine under P-75(1) with AIP and calls for acquiring next-generation military transport aircraft (A400M) to refuelers (A330 MRTT) puts Germany at the heart of strategic collaboration with India.

Manish Kumar Jha (Manish Jha): Luftwaffe has an impeccable legacy, technologically ahead of the times. Give us an overview of the German Air Force's capabilities today. We also understand there’s a lot of debate within the German parliament for modernising the Luftwaffe in terms of the defence budget and acquiring new assets in the wake of ongoing regional conflict.