Germany approves soldiers for AWACS deployment to Afghanistan

10:05 GMT, July 3, 2009 In another chapter of German involvement in Afghanistan, the Federal Parliament today voted the deployment of German soldiers to serve aboard NATO AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) surveillance aircraft in order to provide air space control over Afghanistan. Considering the ongoing discussion in Germany about the nature of the Bundeswehr’s (German Armed Forces) involvement, the support of the population, and approaching Bundestag elections, the topic received additional attention during recent days.

Despite the controversies and the back and forth discussion, the outcome of the voting was not surprising: some 80 per cent of the votes approved the involvement of German soldiers for deployment in the NATO aircraft. The path has now been cleared for Germany, the largest contributing nation to the NATO AWACS programme, to participate in this important mission. As civilian and military air activities over Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries – especially Pakistan and Uzbekistan – have increased during past years, it is urgently required to provide modern surveillance and control capabilities in the area.

This will, naturally, not eliminate the requirement for long-term ground-based airspace controlling in Afghanistan. But as long as such structures have not been established, the AWACS capabilities are vital to both, the growing number of airlines in the region and the Allied air transport and combat activities.

NATO’s request to the participating Nations in the Alliance’s AWACS programme is quite old: it was issued in July 2008 and envisaged an initial limitation of one year. The Noth Atlantic Council decided on June 12, 2009 to deploy up to four aircraft to Konya, Turkey (one of the three NATO AWACS forward operating bases), from where they will regularly fly the approx. 3,000 kilometres to Afghanistan. Today's German Parliament decision allows for the deployment of 300 German soldiers to participate in the mission until the end of the mandate on December 13, 2009.


Defensive, offensive, or a little bit of both?

As soon as the Parliament had been informed in 2008 about the official request, the controversy began and fed the already-raging discussion about the nature of the German mandate for the ISAF operation. Especially the left wing parties and the Green party presumed this to be an “attempt at deception”, as they predicted that the operators aboard AWACS would support US and NATO combat aircraft to attack enemy targets. However, a direct support of such offensive missions can be excluded as AWACS will not serve as a sort of Forward Air Controller that identifies targets and gives guidance to strike aircraft to destroy those targets. AWACS is only capable of air surveillance and control and cannot search or track ground targets.

There are no two questions that the operators will also be managing flight activities of strike aircraft. Yet, this will be limited to the surveillance of flight paths and assistance in flight procedures. As there is no Taliban air force, AWACS will not have any opportunity of applying its “offensive” capabilities, which have been proven in the past as, for instance, by US AWACS aircraft during the second Gulf War when, for a short remaining period, Iraq still had operational fighter aircraft.


Take it as an opportunity!

Even though, according to recent polls, about 60 per cent of the German population favor a pull-out from Afghanistan, and politicians from opposition as well as ruling parties (naturally fewer in the latter) call for an end of German involvement at a more or less early point – the Administration remains strongly committed to the ISAF operation. Yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is no “rational alternative” to the involvement of NATO and Germany in Afghanistan. She further stated: “We are in Afghanistan with the consent of the Afghan Government and we will not run from this task but, rather, accomplish it step by step.”

Considering the understandable push by the Obama administration to receive greater support from NATO member states in Afghanistan, this is a perfect opportunity for the German Armed Forces to credibly increase their contribution while not directly participating in combat operations. It would spotlessly fit into the German Government’s effort to lead a peace-keeping and reconstruction operation in Afghanistan.


The NATO AWACS

The E-3A AWACS are modified Boeing 707s equipped with special radar capable of detecting air traffic over large distances and at low altitudes. The data can be transmitted directly from the aircraft to command and control centers on the ground, sea or in the air.

The fleet, formally called the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEWF), is one of the few military assets that are actually owned and operated by NATO. It is the Alliance’s largest common-funded project.

The E-3A can fly over 10 hours (and longer with air-to-air refueling) at 30,000 feet (9,150 metres) and can detect low-flying aircraft within 400 kilometres and aircraft flying at a medium altitude within 520 kilometres. The antennas for the radar systems are found in the rotodome that is carried atop the AWACS. This structure rotates every ten seconds, providing 360-degree surveillance coverage. One aircraft flying at 30,000 feet has a radar coverage of 312,000 square kilometres.


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Related article:

OpEd: Political Hypocrisy in a Matter of Facts and Nomenclature - Thoughts on the nature of Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan
http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/341/