[Salon] The German Army in the Pacific (II)" (German Foreign Policy

https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/news/detail/9303

The German Army in the Pacific (II)

From Saturday, the German Army will take part in a major maneuver in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time. This will thus ingest the presence of the Bundeswehr there. Military cooperation is directed against China.

20 July 2023

Talisman Sabre

The large-scale maneuver Talisman Sabre is carried out every two years and takes place for the tenth time this year. 1] It is the largest joint war exercise of the armed forces of Australia and the United States, which have regularly cooperated not only in exercises, but also in wars; for this is how Australian troops participated in the wars in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq. Talisman Sabre is intended to train joint operations of different sub-forces from different states; the exercise includes, among other things, sea operations, amphibious landings, operations on land and air combat. 13 states are involved this year. The core is formed by the armed forces of the USA and Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as Great Britain; the five states cooperate quite closely in foreign and military policy and together form the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which has been active since the end of the Second World War. Japan and South Korea are also involved in the maneuver, which are intensifying their cooperation with NATO. 2] In addition, from the Asia-Pacific region of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as well as the Pacific island states of Fiji and Tonga participate. In addition to German troops, French troops have arrived from Europe; France, with its Pacific colonies, still sees itself as a Pacific power today. 3]

"Realistic exercise possibilities"

Talisman Sabre 2023 starts this Saturday (22. July) and then lasts two weeks until the 4th. August. Numerous locations are used that extend from the west of the country to the northeast over the entire Australian continent; "This is how the Bundeswehr explains, "realistic practice opportunities are created to depict how a large multinational force should function in a wide area of operation." 4] With over 200 soldiers, mainly from the army, but also from the navy, the Bundeswehr participates in the major maneuver, for which a total of around 30,000 military personnel are expected. "The army forces come in the mass from the paratrooper regiment 31," says the Bundeswehr; they will be "integrated into a multinational brigade" for Talisman Sabre 2023, which is led "by the Australian Army." In addition, soldiers of the naval battalion - "the marine infantry of the Bundeswehr", as the Bundeswehr writes - are used in the maneuver; they are "temporarily subordinated to the US Marines". They are used in the exercise, among other things, in "an amphibious landing". The Bundeswehr does not inform in which real situation the Bundeswehr in the Asia-Pacific region could be deployed in a landing maneuver. The great political framework is spanned by the power struggle of the West against China.

Military bloc against China

Some activities of the Japanese armed forces provide an impression of the military-strategic context of the large-scale maneuver. In recent years, they have expanded their joint exercises with the Australian armed forces. Specifically, they are also increasing their participation in the Talisman Sabre exercise series. This is particularly important because it strengthens "co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co-co 5] As part of Talisman Sabre 2023, the Japanese armed forces, for example, want to fire their most advanced ship defense missile (Type 12). The weapon has a range of 200 kilometers. The maneuver in Australia is suitable for the test, it is said; the waters around Japan are too densely traveled. With its range, the anti-ship missile could be used in a war for Taiwan: In the spring, Japan deployed Patriot anti-aircraft missiles on Yonaguni, the closest island to its Taiwan, barely 100 kilometers away [6]; if the Type 12 anti-ship missile were also placed there, then the waters off Taiwan fell into their potential target field. Japan wants to upgrade the rocket anyway; it is to have a range of initially 900, then even 1,500 kilometers in the future. 7]

Regularly present

With the participation in Talisman Sabre 2023, the Bundeswehr is further expanding its Asia-Pacific activities. These had begun with the dispatch of the frigate Bavaria to the Indian and Pacific Oceans; the German warship had departed in August 2021, had stopped in Australia and Japan, among others, had sailed through the South China Sea and finally returned in February 2022. 8] In the summer of last year, the Air Force had a squadron with Eurofighters and tank or Transport aircraft sent to Australia to participate in the large-scale maneuver Pitch Black and other exercises and then send individual aircraft to Japan, South Korea and Singapore. 9] Now follows the first Asia-Pacific maneuver of the German Army. Another naval trip to the Pacific has already been announced for the coming year; presumably two German warships are to enter the ocean through the Panama Canal and participate there, among other things, in the US large-scale maneuver RimPac 2024. In addition, another deployment of the Air Force to an exercise in Australia is planned. 10] This looms a regular presence of all classic German sub-forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

Arms cooperation

It is supplemented by an expansion of the German-Australian arms cooperation. The latest example revolves around a factory of the Düsseldorf gunsmith Rheinmetall in Redbank near Brisbane (state of Queensland) on the east coast of Australia. The Boxer wheel reconnaissance tank is manufactured there. The background is that Rheinmetall had received the order in 2018 to supply 211 wheeled reconnaissance tanks to the Australian army - for around 5.2 billion Australian dollars. However, Rheinmetall had to promise to build the boxer in Australia. This happens in Redbank. The Bundeswehr now also wants new boxer copies; more than a hundred pieces are now to be manufactured at Rheinmetall Defence Australia and then delivered to Germany. 11] This means that value creation of around one billion Australian dollars takes place in Australia, it is reported. For this, Rheinmetall hopes to be awarded the contract for the construction of a new infantry fighting vehicle for the Australian army; the German company competes with the Lynx against the redback of the South Korean Hanwha Group. The order is likely to reach billions again. The quality of the Boxer wheeled reconnaissance tank built in Australia will soon be able to be taken into account by the Bundeswehr: The vehicle will be used - for the first time ever - at Talisman Sabre 2023.

[1] Exercise Talisman Sabre. defence.gov.au.

[2] S. NATO on the Pacific (II).

[3] S. The German Army on the Pacific.

[4] Talisman Sabre 23. bundeswehr.de.

[5] Andrew Greene: Japan to fire advanced ship-killing missile on Australia's shores. abc.net.au 19.07.2023.

[6] Keishi Koja: Missile-defense units arrive on Japan's westernmost island ahead of North Korean launch. stripes.com 24.04.2023.

[7] Yoshihiro Inaba: Japan Doubles Down On Standoff Missiles To Deter China. navalnews.com 15.05.2023.

[8] S. The frigate Bavaria on colonial trip and With the Air Force to the Pacific.

[9] See the second front of the Bundeswehr.

[10] S. in addition to inaugural visit to Washington and war exercises in Southeast Asia.

[11] German infantry fighting vehicles will soon come from Australia. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 11.07.2023.