Residential neighborhood in Hamburg at midnight. The streets are quiet and empty. Suddenly there is a noise: several helicopters hovering in the night sky and blue lights piercing the darkness. A long procession of vehicles moves through the streets. Soldiers stand on armored vehicles belonging to the German army, holding machine guns at the ready. For locals this is an unfamiliar and perhaps frightening sight in this usually quiet coastal town.
"Red Storm Charlie" is the name of the exercise that paralyzed parts of the coastal city in northern Germany for three days. The German army, police and civilian organizations are jointly testing their preparedness for emergency situations. Scenario: Escalation of threat to NATO's eastern flank. In the port of Hamburg, the largest seaport in Germany, NATO forces, represented by soldiers from the German army, land during training. These forces then move through the Hanseatic city towards the east. Sabotage and demonstrations, which are also part of the scenario, hinder the advance of the forces. With the participation of about 1,700 people, including 500 male and female soldiers, this maneuver (September 24-26, 2026) is the largest of its kind so far.
Operation Red Storm Charlie falls within a secret plan: the “Operations Plan for Germany.” Through this document, the German armed forces are preparing for a possible attack by Russia on NATO territory. The Operations Plan for Germany fits seamlessly into NATO's broader defense plans.
In a war or crisis scenario, the special role will not only be limited to the port city of Hamburg, but will include all of Germany: the role of the logistical hub for hundreds of thousands of NATO soldiers, weapons and heavy equipment. "It is a very detailed and highly secret plan that specifies exactly where NATO allies should land in Germany, and in particular at which ports and routes are needed to transit through Germany," security expert Aileen Mattli of the German Foreign Policy Association (DGAP) explained in an interview with DW.
Germany as a transit country for NATO forces
NATO expects the Baltic states to be the most vulnerable to a Russian attack. In case of emergency, the Alliance will mobilize large numbers of forces from its 32 member states. For this purpose, soldiers from southern and western Europe will have to cross Germany. “In concrete terms this means that within six months about 800,000 soldiers with 200,000 vehicles will have to cross our country. This is the calculation,” explains Marcel Bohnert.
This officer in the German Armed Forces participated in drafting the first version of the operations plan. Bohnert is speaking to DW in his personal capacity and not as an official representative of the German armed forces. “We have to ensure that soldiers can use our roads and ports safely. That is why we take care of all their needs from their accommodation to their food, ensure their safety and guide them through our road network.”
The plan also includes arrangements for operations in the opposite direction, i.e. from east to west, such as transporting wounded soldiers or fleeing civilians. The Inspector General of the German Armed Forces, Carsten Breuer, ordered the plan following a major Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022. Breuer is the highest-ranking German officer and is not the only one concerned that Russia may attack other countries. Germany is already facing a plethora of Russian provocations, ranging from cyberattacks to acts of sabotage against the German armed forces.
Defense Minister Pistorius: “Moscow is testing our reaction”
The attempted bombing that occurred in early August at Leipzig/Halle Airport represented a new dimension of the threat. A drone packed with explosives was used and only exploded thanks to favorable circumstances. The German government holds Russia responsible for this. "The threat is becoming more real. It is serious, it is acute and it is becoming more and more apparent. This is exactly what the Russian president wants. Moscow is testing our response," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (Social Democratic Party) said on September 23 in the Bundestag.
The German Armed Forces also confront this threat through the “Operations Plan for Germany”, which is constantly being developed. Lessons learned from exercises such as Red Storm Charlie are incorporated into this plan. Marcel Bohnert says the plan is also aimed at deterrence: “We hope that we can deter Russia from its aggression by demonstrating our strength through the rapid expansion of our army, as well as the organized and rapid transfer of forces to the border.”
Roads and bridges must be repaired
How prepared is Germany to play its role as a military hub? Security expert Aileen Matley sees a weakness in the crumbling infrastructure in some places. In particular, Germany must pay "more rapid and comprehensive attention" to the maintenance and repair of bridges, roads and traffic corridors through which troop transport convoys are scheduled to pass. “Because some of these facilities date back to the Cold War era and are not designed to transport heavy loads or equipment.”
Another difficulty is striking a balance between keeping the plan confidential and engaging the public. For fear of sabotage, sensitive information such as the exact transit routes of NATO forces should not fall into Russian hands. On the other hand, this plan can only succeed through cooperation between the German armed forces, civil society, city and municipal officials, the police, and relief organizations. “Parts of the plan must be publicly available, because we need society, ministries and governments to implement it,” says Marcel Bohnert.
Can the AfD reveal sensitive information?
Recently, the debate over the secrecy of the more than 1,000-page document reignited after the Alternative for Germany party emerged from the elections in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt as the strongest party, and security experts expressed concern that the party, part of which belongs to the far right and supports Russia, may transmit information from the plan to Moscow if it takes over as prime minister. The Ministry of Defense responded to this: No state obtains the complete document. Indeed, sensitive parts of the operations plan are only conveyed in excerpts and in a very specific manner.
However, observers believe that the increasing number of hybrid threats reinforces the need for secrecy. In the Red Storm Charlie exercise in Hamburg, accredited journalists were not informed of the routes and locations of the exercise until the last minute for fear of possible disturbances or sabotage.
