Air Power in Joint and Combined Operations

Parliamentary Control

Klaus-Peter Stieglitz

The “White Paper 2006 on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr” is the position paper for Germany ’s commitment in security policy. As already laid down in the Defence Policy Guidelines, international conflict prevention and crisis management including the fight against international terrorism are designated there as the “most likely tasks” of the armed forces “for the foreseeable future”.
This is essential to be emphasized, because we — despite all present challenges — must not reduce us in the current missions to the “here and now”, but have also to identify in particular any future risks and threat potentials. To prepare the Bundeswehr exclusively for the mission reality of the “current” missions would not go far enough. To be not only orientated towards the current conflicts, but to be primarily forearmed against future crises — that is the actual necessity and intellectual effort required for a comprehensive security provision by the state. The recent mission experiences have shown how fast the mission reality and thus the requirements can change.

Air Power

Only air forces are capable of producing in the total area of operations an effect on the overall system of a potential adversary with comparably low own risks. In this context “effect” means not only the complete destruction of a target, but means the achievement of an intended effect in a broad spectrum of potential mission options. These effects range from humanitarian aid provided with our air transport means over standoff-capable and also penetrating reconnaissance, over the establishment and surveillance of no-fly zones up to the precisely dosed engagement of targets from long distances or in direct overflight by avoid­ing undesired collateral effects.
Speed, range, and flexibility are here the characteristics, which make up the Air Force, features which do not exist in this form with the other Services. Modern technology enables us today to take advantage of standoff capability, precision, and all-weather capability to an extent, which was not available in the past. Today, we are able to be effective in a quick, precise and controlled way against a wide spectrum of potential targets in areas of operations far away from Germany . This can signal political determination and prevent the creation and/or use of sanctuaries and thus possibly contribute to deterrence and early deescalation.
Moreover, we are capable of guaranteeing wide-area protection of the airspace both over Germany and over areas of operation due to the range of our effectors and thus being effective against the overall spectrum of airborne threats.
In a potential conflict air forces, due to their flexibility and high availability and the short reaction time resulting from that, are particularly suited to provide the political side highly effective options at an early stage already with an overall low endangerment of the forces employed.

Many members of the Luftwaffe are on mis­sions every single day. Main efforts continue to be the missions in Afghanistan and in the Balkans. Reconnaissance, air transport and object security forces (for key point and installation defence) of the Luftwaffe are still required there. Guaranteeing the security in the airspace over Germany as a permanent mission continues to be determinant for our air defence and operations command forces.
As a mainstay of capability and competence in air power, the Luftwaffe must be ready and able at any time, however, to provide the range of capabilities needed in the mission and to also employ them in case of a respective political order. Thus, the Bundestag (Lower House of Parliament) agreed with its resolution of 9 March 2007 to provide the International Stabilization and Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan air reconnaissance capabilities. To fulfil this political mandate, RECCE TORNADOs of 5 1st Reconnaissance Wing “Immelmann” were deployed from Schleswig and stationed in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan .
From there, the TORNADOs are being employed in the whole of Afghanistan . Apart from the pilots and aircraft-technical staff there are also specialists employed for the processing and evaluation of the reconnaissance images as well as command, support, and liaison personnel. ISAF was mandated by the Security Council of the United Nations to support the Afghan government with all necessary measures in ensuring a secure and stable environment. Own efficient reconnaissance capabilities are indispensable for carrying out this mandate. As for ISAF, there has long been a significant gap in the field of air reconnaissance. Against the background of the difficult security situation, this has always been a serious problem. The missions of the RECCE TORNADOs are part of the over­all ISAF operation. The task is just as clear as conclusive: reconnaissance. NATO requested it in this way, the German Bundestag mandated it, and it is also implemented in this way. Air reconnaissance serves to obtain more transparency on the situation on the ground. The better the reconnaissance, the more comprehensive gets the picture that is presented in Afghanistan and the more adequate and the more proportionate is it for ISAF to act and react.
But it is primarily about being always one step ahead of a potential enemy; it is about information superiority, which is so important for the success of ISAF. Reconnaissance serves above all the protection of the ISAF forces — and thus also directly the protection of the German soldiers — just as the protection of the civilian helpers and the Afghan population.
The mission reality shows that ensuring the operational capability and the establishing and improving of the operational readiness must be the paramount maxim of our planning and our acting. For the Luftwaffe the maxim determining the structure and planning thus continues to be the maintenance and improvement of the operational capability in the entire task spectrum.

Due to their excellent capabilities and capacities like, for instance, employment at high altitudes, range, and loiter time/endurance in the area of operations, UAVs gain increasingly in importance, especially since they are largely independent of threats in the overall capability spectrum. Leading for the Bundeswehr, the Luftwaffe is eagerly advancing the conceptual and planning work. By embarking on the operation and employment of UAVs which operate in medium to high altitudes it is intended to realize interservice key capabilities for the armed forces still in this decade.
Full exploitation of the operational performance potential of UAVs is only possible within the joint overall system, however. It requires a holistic and, from the very beginning, interservice approach. Because when introducing the UAVs, a great number of challenges must be met by the Bundeswehr in toto, such as the simultaneous implementation of the data connection and network integration. By setting out on a quasi real time reconnaissance we are pushing open the door to a completely new dimension of command and control. Hence, the employment of UAVs opens up additional improvement potentials in a pool of sensors, com­mand systems, and effectors. The fielding of UAVs has thus a real catalyst function for the enhancement of the operational capability of the armed forces as a whole.
To eliminate the capability deficit in the field of signal-detecting reconnaissance the Luftwaffe plans to introduce the UAV EURO HAWK as of 2010 as a replacement for the Breguet Atlantic. This system will lastingly improve the capability to compile a wide-area overall update of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The possibility to conduct reconnaissance continuously in real time and in a standoff mode opens up a new dimension of a customized, continued, more detailed, and timely assessment of the situation — and this is achievable in all phases of crisis-prone developments as well as in missions and operations.
With the planned development of the proto­type, the start of the operation of unmanned systems of that size will be realized. In addition, the Luftwaffe plans in the field of airborne reconnaissance in the depth of the area of operations the procurement of a UAV Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) as of 2009.
This will substantially contribute to the protection of the forces and means on missions in near real time. Only by way of acquiring a system available on the market and tested in operations will it be possible to make quick capability and experience gains. This will allow to rapidly build up own capabilities and competencies and to put them profitably to use for future developments. The operating forces of the Bundeswehr need this capability very urgently.
In the field of wide-area, imagery reconnaissance the Luftwaffe participates within the framework of NATO in the future airborne Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system. As for AGS, current plannings provide for a mix of manned platforms such as the AIRBUS A321 and unmanned platforms like the GLOBAL HAWK. With that it is intended to create a core capability for the wide-area reconnaissance and surveillance as of approximately 2012. The then possible near-real-time gathering of information will considerably improve the freedom of choice and action for both the political and military leaders.
In addition to this political dimension there is no doubt whatsoever that these capabilities must be available as soon as possible in order to be able to provide maximum support and comprehensive protection to our soldiers in operations on the basis of up-to-date information. However, despite all the possibilities offered by UAVs they cannot completely relieve and replace manned aircraft, but will complement them in cases where dangers and threats to our pilots are no longer tolerable or where physical and psychical strains are extremely high.

The Contribution of the Luftwaffe to NRF/EU BG

The importance of air forces is also consistently reflected in NATO’s requirements for the NATO Rapid Response Force (NRF). The provision of combat aircraft is planned and necessary for all NRF scenarios. And the crisis reaction forces to be build up within the EU framework are not imaginable either without air forces acting as “force enablers”. But the capability of exercising unrestricted control and use of the airspace and the sea and land areas below it, which can only be obtained with air forces, is not at all a matter of course.
Build-up and maintenance of the needed capabilities cost money: The units provided to NATO and EU must be adequately equipped and trained; normally this means a deployment capability within five days. This high degree of operational readiness also requires the avail­ability of the necessary training areas and installations.

Protection on Missions

The reason that air forces are a “conditio sine qua non” for the mission and especially for the active protection lies simply in their peculiar characteristics, which are absolutely needed to control wide areas and to grant area-wide protection for ground operations. In this context, protection is more than just cover and concealment and armour plating. Best protection is achieved if one is able to detect potential dangers early, to evade them or to face them by being adequately prepared. The prime prerequisite for effective protection is thus a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the situation as a basis for making decisions; this applies to both big and little things, i.e. for strategic and tactical command decisions.
Furthermore, active protection requires the capability for a quick responsive and precise weapon employment from a safe distance against an identified threat. Protection means thus also to be capable of acting in a standoff mode and with pinpoint accuracy.
Passive protective measures such as armour must take effect as a supplement in cases where active protection is lacking or insufficient. These measures are always only reactively effective, however, and go not far enough when applied separately. Sound reconnaissance results protect thus against surprises and are the prerequisite for being able to act proactively instead of being surprised and having to react in an uncoordinated way, if one has still a chance to do so at all. Airborne reconnaissance means — and here especially unmanned aerial vehicles with a high endurance over the area of operations — allow a continuous and area-wide collection of information with the advantage of being able to evade an endangerment by enemy forces.

Outlook

In developing the capabilities of the special attention of the Luftwaffe is given to maintaining and expanding those capabilities, which serve the improvement of the operability of the Bundeswehr as a whole. The Luftwaffe projects like UAV, EUROFIGHTER, MEADS, A400M serve the armed forces in the aggregate. Jointness is in the centre of the commitment of the Luftwaffe — both on national and international levels. Jointness and combinedness as well as increasing multinationalization must not jeopardize the integration of functional Services, however.
The capabilities of air forces, especially the contributions to information superiority and the superiority in efficiency and effectiveness, represent multipliers in this equation. As for the strategic orientation of the Luftwaffe the following remains to be stated:

• The White Paper 2006 corroborates the pre­determined capability profile of the concept of the Bundeswehr
• In the development of this profile the Luftwaffe focuses on coalition capability, information superiority, and superiority in efficiency and effectiveness
• The Luftwffe orientates itself consistently to the current and especially to the more likely future missions of the Bundeswehr
• The configuration of our capability contributions in respect to range, agility, and ordnance options is of great significance for the armed forces and the basis for a strategic orientation
• The course taken is goal-oriented and compatible with the processes in NATO and EU.
  

The team “Luftwaffe” contributes considerably to the capability build-up of the armed forces as a whole. Our efforts regarding the introduction of unmanned airborne reconnaissance systems and the strengthening of air power must therefore be resolutely continued. The scarce resources require here innovative approaches and flexible solutions on all levels. The prime goal is and will be the provision of air power in joint and combined operations.                 
                                                    

By LtGen (GE AF) Klaus-Peter Stieglitz, Chief of Staff, Luftwaffe.