Dresden. The Army Inspector, Christian Freuding, is a guest at the innovation forum at the officers' school in Dresden. A suitable opportunity in the interview to defend yourself against accusations that the Bundeswehr mainly orders “scrap metal” and is not technologically up to date. But the highest-ranking officer in the land forces is far from satisfied. Rather impatient.
The army will be larger, also thanks to fully planned reservists; It will be close to being fully equipped with many innovative skills and will be characterized by an appreciative and comradely leadership culture. In short: we will have an army that can prevail and win.
Our most important interim goal was to be able to lead the Panzergrenadier Brigade 37 digitally when it takes on the role of NATO spearhead as Forward Land Forces in 2027. That was successful. The operational test showed that we can drive, radio and shoot - even under demanding tactical tasks and in poor weather conditions. But of course there is still a lot of work ahead of us.
We must make faster progress with the further integration of D-LBO, equip even more weapon systems and vehicles with it, and integrate even more means of transmission, such as satellite communication, in order to exploit the system's capabilities. And we have to continue working on stability. The industry has promised us all of this and I trust it.
The marten does not yet meet the quality criteria we have set up. System stability is important to me, and that's why I won't weaken the criteria. Ultimately, the army's soldiers have to survive in combat with the system. As a result, we now have to redistribute orders in the army. This will affect the 112 Panzergrenadier Battalion in the Bavarian rain with its Pumas.
That makes sense because we will continue to use the Marder infantry fighting vehicle for about ten years. We will therefore be converting around 120 units because digital radio also means a leap in quality.
Yes, of course the changeover takes too long for me as an inspector, and no, the technology is state-of-the-art. Because it's less about the casing of the radio and more about the software that's inside. We call this Software Defined Defense. And this software, the inner workings of the system, is constantly updated at short intervals. Therefore, when many army units are reorganized in the fall, the Digitalization Center for Land Operations will be of particular importance.
In a sense, this is our app shop, through which we will update the software of all of our weapon systems at regular intervals in the future. Modernity is no longer measured by the thickness of the armor steel, but by the up-to-dateness of the software.
We have finished planning the future structure and are currently coordinating it with the Ministry of Defense in a very targeted manner. I expect the structure to be approved this year.
I don't want to do any manufacturer bashing now. But too many procurement projects are behind schedule and below our quality standards.
There are five areas of action in which we must improve significantly: protection against threats from ground-level airspace, indirect effects, i.e. long-range artillery and loitering ammunition, electromagnetic combat, integration of unmanned systems and digital leadership capability. We see progress in all areas. In some we have to become even faster, in others we are already making good progress.
At the Lithuania Brigade's next exercise in November, we will also use loitering ammunition for the first time - just a year after we first started looking at the topic.
In the future, as land forces, we will also need the ability to operate to a depth of 1,500 kilometers and beyond.
We currently don't have this capability, but there are various approaches. On the one hand, we are looking at so-called low-cost cruise missiles. We are taking a closer look at two models that would still have to be qualified for the Bundeswehr, but could then be introduced very quickly. And then there are high-end cruise missiles, which on the one hand are to be developed jointly in Europe and on the other hand are to be procured for the transition in the USA.
Digital leadership capability covers different levels. The first level is the digital backbone, i.e. the basic platform. Then there is the question of how data is managed and merged. And the third level is what NATO understands as data exploitation, i.e. the possibility of using the data you have in a targeted manner in combat.
In all areas, the Bundeswehr has ideas about the overall architecture and also the first concrete models and applications. Think, for example, of Uranos AI, the AI-supported reconnaissance and response network for armored combat troops, which we will be introducing in the Lithuania Brigade next year. What we now have to do quickly is to combine these individual projects into a digital leadership concept and implement this leadership concept piece by piece so that we can really make the leap into the 21st century.
I don't want to rate individual providers. With regard to NATO, which uses Maven, we need to agree on the level at which this system should be used and how we can ensure our national connectivity. It is clear that the aspects of information speed and data security play a major role for us when it comes to digital leadership ability.
I see three levels there. In the future, every soldier must have basic knowledge of operating and defending against drones. Secondly, unmanned systems must significantly increase the operational value of our military units. To do this, we are setting up pilot companies in the fighter, tank and army reconnaissance troops. And the third level is the own, independent drone regiment that we will set up.
The regiment will have different capabilities to operate at short, medium and long range. I imagine ranges of up to 500 kilometers, and possibly even longer in the future. And it will be capable of anti-drone and electromagnetic warfare. There are also plans to have our own company for testing and experimental purposes, next door to the operational companies, so to speak, in order to be able to keep up with the high pace of innovation in this area.
A framework agreement does not automatically mean that the entire number will actually be introduced into the force. Of course it is true that we have to keep up with the pace of innovation in our procurement. This is done via so-called retention contracts, in which the focus is not on a specific number of units, but on production capacity. But retention agreements alone do not create a deterrent effect. We have to find a balance between fully equipped units, the necessary stockpiling and the ability to quickly produce state-of-the-art systems in large quantities if the worst comes to the worst. So we need full depots and prepared factory halls.
Ukraine needs unhindered access to the relevant data links and intelligence information of all its partners. Starshield is of utmost importance for combat management. And one can only hope that all partners will continue to reliably support Ukraine in its fight for freedom.
Over the next few years, we will invest 35 billion euros in our own skills, also in order to become more independent. We have recognized the relevance of space. When purchasing any weapon system, integration into our own sovereign network architecture is the number one criterion.
I am sure that Russia is not based on our planning periods. That means we have to get faster and better every day and be ready when the situation calls for it. Russia’s hybrid reach is increasing. Take the various drone incidents like in Leipzig/Halle, incidents in ammunition factories in Italy, in Bulgaria, in the Baltic countries, statements from Russia that one could also imagine a special operation in Lithuania. The threat is real; the BND president recently rightly called it a “shadow war”. I find this description very accurate.
