The German army stands before the deduction from the Turkish base of Incirlik. Soldiers and aircraft to be relocated to Jordan. That means a forced break in the action against the terrorist militia “IS”.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen in may at the Jordanian military airport in Al Azraq
In Kuwait, Cyprus and Jordan, reconnaissance teams of the Bundeswehr had been looking for the past few weeks, Alternatives to the Turkish air force base Incirlik. The choice fell on the Jordanian military airport in Al Azraq, the defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen in may for yourselves. This was their evaluation, “a comparable Alternative” to Incirlik.
Still, the move is not decided formally, but the Bundeswehr is preparing, after the Federal government was able to achieve with Turkey, there is no agreement about the right of visit of the German Deputy in Incirlik.
In Jordan, welcome
The airport, Al Azraq, in the Jordanian air force uses, is located about 150 kilometers East of the capital Amman and 50 kilometers South of the border to Syria – geographically, so to be quite favorable for the reconnaissance flights of the German Tornados over Syria and Iraq. In addition, other partners of the Anti-IS coalition Al-Azraq, about the USA and the Netherlands operate.
Politically, the situation is advantageous: The relations between Jordan and Germany are close and friendly, which guarantees an unrestricted right of visit of the German deputies. Jordan’s king Abdullah, who has always tried to have good relations with the neighboring States and the West, supports the planned transfer of the German Tornados in his country.
From Turkey to Jordan move: six tornadoes, a tanker aircraft and 250 soldiers
However, Al Azraq, other than Incirlik, the NATO base, on which the German armed forces, certain Standards can be expected – for example, in the case of the IT-connections, fuel and other infrastructure. “Some of the framework is already there, we need to create in the first place,” said a spokesman for the defense Ministry of the German wave. The integration of the tornadoes in the use of the Anti-IS coalition, which is controlled from the air force headquarters of the coalition in Qatar, will change as a result of the move, but nothing.
Logistical Nightmare
In addition to the 250 soldiers, the six Tornados and the tank of the plane, 10,000 tonnes of Material to be laid, Packed in about 200 containers. At the heart of this is the plant in which the aerial image-analyze analyser, the shots of the tornadoes. Only when this is established in Jordan, again, can put the German armed forces for their use.
The routing of the aircraft is the smaller part of the effort. Significantly more complex is the Transport of containers by sea or by air. “Here, we will take advantage of all the possibilities,” stresses the Ministry’s spokesman, of our own means of transport on the help of allies, to the reservation of capacity on the free market.
Turkey has not relented, as foreign Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, in Ankara on visitation rights in Incirlik negotiated
Interruption of the Operation
On a site the complete Material to unpack and another is for the armed forces, an unusual task that will take some weeks. The goal is that the tanker aircraft flies within two to three weeks of re-operations, the Tornados within two to three months. Perhaps it goes a little faster.
“We want to keep the break as short as possible”, – stated in the Ministry of defence. Since the break falls in the possibly decisive Phase of the Operation against the terrorist militia “Islamic state”, in which the aerial images are urgently needed. Therefore, the reconnaissance flights to the German army completed so far are 950 – temporarily of other allies.