Main jet breaks down
Eurofighter landed in Australia for maneuvers
08/19/2022, 5:24 p.m
Participation in a maneuver in Australia is intended to demonstrate that the German Air Force can be deployed quickly and anywhere in the world. The Eurofighters have now landed there after a flight of around 22,000 kilometers. However, there is a breakdown on the way to complain about.
Five German Air Force Eurofighter fighter jets have arrived in Australia for international military exercises. “The Eurofighters landed in Darwin together with the tankers and the A400M aircraft,” the Air Force said on Twitter. “From Monday we will take part in the multinational exercise PitchBlack22 with 16 other nations,” it said. These are the Bundeswehr’s first exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.
According to the information, six Eurofighter jets are taking part in the exercises, accompanied by four A400M transport aircraft and three A330 tank jets, which supplied the fighters with fuel on the approximately 22,000-kilometer flight. A total of 250 Bundeswehr soldiers are involved.
One of the Eurofighters was delayed on its way to Australia due to a technical breakdown. It was, of all things, the specially foiled Eurofighter “Air Ambassador”. This one had to according to a tweet from the Air Force waiting for repairs at the Al-Dhafra military base in the United Arab Emirates until Air Force technicians had arrived with spare parts. However, the Air Force later announced that this jet, after repairs, had also been docked in the Indo-Pacific region and was on its way to Darwin.
The Luftwaffe’s “largest and most ambitious mission”.
According to the Bundeswehr, the aircraft took off on Monday in Neuburg, Bavaria. The Air Force announced the landing on Thursday, so the travel time was about three days. The Eurofighters are scheduled to participate in the Australian Army’s “Pitch Black” air exercises and “Kakadu 2022” naval exercises until September.
This is the “biggest and most ambitious mission” of the German Air Force to date, said its chief of staff, Ingo Gerhartz. “We are sending a clear signal: the air force can be deployed quickly and anywhere in the world, even if there are several missions to be completed at the same time.”
The exercises come weeks after China staged the largest military maneuvers in its history off the coast of Taiwan. China was responding to a visit by US leader Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a breakaway territory.
Against the background of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Germany has begun a comprehensive modernization of the Bundeswehr and has set up a special fund of 100 billion euros for this purpose.