| German Air Arms |
The current status of the Federal Republic Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) was influenced by two major historic events; WW II and the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990. The Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) was constituted May 23rd 1949. Later Germany was allowed an army with a personnel strength of 500.000. On 9 may 1955 the Federal Republic became a NATO-member.
The 'new' Luftwaffe was founded on September 24, 1956. The other air arms (Heeresflieger and Marineflieger) followed in 1957. The first aircraft to arrive were Republic F-84Fs and RF-84Fs, Harvards, Dakota's and Piper Cubs. Later followed by Canadair Sabres and locally built Do27s. The sixties were dominated by many of the 916 F-104 Starfighters the Germans used and the Fiat G91s. Both types have been replaced by the F-4 (1970s) and the Tornado (1980s). The latter type is currently still forming the backbone of the fightercomponent of Germany. Currently the EF 2000 is being delivered to JG73 (Laage), JG74 (Neuburg) and JBG31 (Nörvenich). Eventually 180 Eurofighters will enter service with JG71, JG73, JG74, JBG31 and JBG33. The EF 2000 replaces all F-4Fs and the major share of the Tornados. Recent changes (end-2009) indicate that only 143 Eurofighters will be delivered. Transport needs are filled by the C-160 Transall.
The army started with Bell 47s, H-21s, Choctaws and Sycamores. The Do27 also played a major role in the army. Gradually these a/c were replaced by Alouette IIs and UH-1Ds. Nowadays Bo105s, UH-1Ds and CH-53s are on strength whilst the Tiger (80 aircraft) and the NH90 have been ordered and are scheduled to enter service in the future. EC135s have been delivered to replace the SE3130 Alouette II in the training role.
The navy used the SeaHawk and several types of helicopters in the very beginning. During the sixties the Starfighter was also introduced into this air arm and continued flying until the mid-eighties. The Starfighter was replaced by the Tornado and two Marinefliegergeschwader (1 and 2) flew the Tornado. Both units have been disbanded and fighter operations within the navy stopped during 2005. Today the Orion (replacing the Atlantic, that replaced the HU-16 Albatross) forms the fixed wing part of the Marineflieger. The SIGINT-variant of the Atlantic will continue flying for a couple of years. The Sea King and Sea Lynx helicopters are currently used for SAR- and ASW-operations.
In the beginning, a code system was used indicating the wing and squadron the aircraft belonged to, but new serials (20+01 etc.) were allocated by the release of 'Herausgabe der algemeinen Versorgungsweisung' Nr M5, dated november 13, 1967.
In autumn 1949 the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) was formed. The reunification of East and West Germany on 3 October 1990 meant that the GDR ceased to exist. Of the hundreds of a/c from the Nationale Volksarmee (NVA) only the MiG-29s and some of the transport a/c and helicopters were incorporated into the Luftwaffe.
Several major reorganisations have taken place since 1990. Several units have been disbanded (e.g. JG72, JBG34, HFR6, HFR35 and many others) and bases closed (Hopsten, Memmingen, Itzehoe and others). The future will see the introduction of the Tiger (Heeresflieger) and the NH90 (Air Force, Navy and Army), while transport-capacity should be provided by the A400M. All three projects are suffering from major delays.
The German Air Force Wings are divided into 2 or 3 squadrons (Staffeln) but, contrary to many other air forces, these squadrons only include the aircrew (and a very low number of non-flying servicemen). The aircraft however belong to the Wing itself and therefore the squadrons are not included in the order of battle. The same goes for the army-units, where the helicopters are not spread over the separate squadrons.
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Photo: Angelo Toresani
Photo: Paul van den Hurk
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Order of Battle