Category: News

Commander of the frigate "Schleswig-Holstein" hands over the baton

On Friday, 7 October 2022 at 9 a.m., the commander of the 2nd Frigate Squadron, Kapitän zur See Torben Jürgensen (46), handed over command of the frigate "Schleswig-Holstein" from Frigate Captain Andreas Mückusch (45) to his successor Frigate Captain Andreas Schmidt (41). Frigate Captain Mückusch took command of the "Schleswig-Holstein", also known as the "Sophie-X", in 2019. "My time in command of the frigate 'Schleswig-Holstein' was certainly the highlight of my 25 years of service as a naval officer. With shipyard time, operational training, deployment and several manoeuvre participations, I experienced an extraordinary amount with my crew. The six-month deployment in the Aegean was particularly formative, with the emotional highlight being the...

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Mrs Corvette Captain, take over...!

Today, Friday, the commander of Training Group C, Frigate Captain Rainer Fankhänel, handed over command to Corvette Captain Victoria Kietzmann as the last commander in a series of command handovers within the Naval Technology School. After two years of training at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College in Hamburg, Corvette Captain Kietzmann now finds herself in command responsibility with immediate effect. She is the first female commander in the German Navy. The naval technology school at Strelasund is not new territory for the staff officer. As Chief of Inspection, she was already responsible for young soldiers taking their first steps in the German Navy. The honourable task of conducting the ceremonial pledge of allegiance before...

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Old wine in new bottles: faster procurement?

In May 2022, it became known that the Ministry of Defence was working on a draft law to accelerate procurement measures of the German Armed Forces - "in short" the Bundeswehr Procurement Acceleration Act (BwBBG) - and, as the smooth name suggests, the law is intended to "apply facilitations under public procurement law to accelerate the awarding of public contracts", according to a formulation aid from the Federal Government. Observers of the scene quickly recognised that the demands formulated in the draft law essentially provide for the implementation of existing and long-known options - particularly with regard to the public procurement chamber and exemptions from the Competition Act. The Federal Association of the German Security and Defence Industry rightly asked why the "planned increased...

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If you ever ask me about it!

A non-binding explanation to the frequently asked question as to why it is not possible to determine at the touch of a button which ship has been where and when in a limited sea area such as the Baltic Sea - i.e. to carry out area-wide monitoring? Let's start with something fundamental: the Baltic Sea is not China! And under normal circumstances, there is no need to monitor everything, permanently and seamlessly! The sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas supply pipelines has also broken an unwritten "customary law", namely that supply lines may be threatened or influenced in an unspoken manner, but not actually attacked and destroyed. So who is responsible for what? For...

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Netherlands: Walrus successor - request for proposals expected from mid-November

Available on the website of the Dutch Ministry of Defence since 30 September 2022: the request for quotation will be sent to the three competing shipyards in mid-November 2022. The Hague expects Damen, Naval Group and tkMS to submit a proposal by summer 2023 for four submarines - considerations to reduce the number of units were rejected. In a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, State Secretary Christophe van der Maat explains the procedure. It will take some time before the evaluation is finalised. "The submarine is one of our most important strategic weapon systems. ... This is an important project and involves a lot of money....

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