Luftwaffe embarrassment
Apparently the Luftwaffe is giving up on a couple of its planes and retiring them immediately ahead of schedule. Aircraft 16+01 and 16+02 get a rest – seems they have a bad habit of breaking. The kicker? They are Germany’s equivalent to Air Force One and Air Force Two. Well, it’s not like they are high-profile in the country or anything, right?
Yesterday, in a tweet that began with the words “safety first!” the air force reported that the four-engine A340 had to return to Abu Dhabi after taking off from there. “Due to a technical fault, the wing flaps could not be retracted correctly. We are working at full speed to enable our guests to continue their journey and will inform you when it resumes,” the Luftwaffe stated…
The fault reportedly appeared after refueling in Abu Dhabi, leaving the minister “stranded for hours while the technical crew battled to fix a problem with the wing flaps,” according to the AFP news agency.
Later that day, the next update brought more bad news:
“A340 — Mission aborted!” the Luftwaffe tweeted. “The problem occurred again with the now fully refueled machine. We are now landing back in Abu Dhabi.”
However, previous technical problems have also prevented the same aircraft from undertaking important duties.
Most notably, back in 2018, the-then German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s trip to the G20 summit was delayed, due to an electronic fault on the jet.
Also in 2018, Olaf Scholz — then the finance minister, now the chancellor — was forced to take a commercial flight back from Indonesia after rodents chewed cables on the same A340.
In May this year, Baerbock was again stranded in the Middle East, after her aircraft suffered a flat tire in Qatar. She was forced to extend her visit there by a day.
The planes will be replaced with three A350-900s, already in service (but none were available yesterday – oops.) Guess they listened to Mr. Fields: “If at first you don’t succeed, give up. No sense being a damn fool about it.”
However, the Luftwaffe has repeatedly been criticized for failing to meet adequate levels of aircraft availability.
Back in 2017, for example, it emerged that only around 35 percent of the Tornado combat aircraft fleet was combat-ready at any given time. While a replacement has now been lined up for these jets, they continue to serve, for now, alongside the newer Eurofighter EF2000, which has suffered from availability problems of its own.
In recent years, as many as 40 percent of the Luftwaffe Eurofighter fleet has been undergoing modification. A lack of spare parts further compounds the problem.
These kinds of issues are also not restricted to the Luftwaffe’s aircraft. In the past, we have reported on problems faced by the Germany Army’s helicopter fleets. As of November 2019, just 15 percent of German Army Tiger attack helicopters and only around 12 percent of its NH90 transport helicopters were mission capable. The War Zone
Guess all these years of cheaping on the defense budget has caught up to them. This sure doesn’t sound like the Luftwaffe of years past.
Category: NATO
hey, all the other NATO members cheap out too, because they all think the US will take up the slack
Bingo.
We always do.
Maybe they should use some of the money we saved them on better equipment, be that tools or airplanes.
They should have plenty of money now that Trump is not in office (presently).
As embarrassing as that is, more curious as to what happened to Sergeant Major Kettlebell. Because that could have legs.
coin toss, toxic command environment, or did his weenie get out of control?
It’s always the weeine with these guys. So much bother over where and when he put and sometimes how.
Eh, when some senior NCOs sole defining personality trait is physical fitness, you know he’s going to be a screaming asshat, I’m calling toxic environment
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/15/sergeant-major-kettlebell-relieved-top-enlisted-leader-marine-infantry-school.html
Looks like All-Points Logistics might be losing that contract.
No big deal as they probably landed it on some of the False Commander’s “Phony” Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics) recently-tailored Kommando Spezialkräfte military, Berlin law enforcement and German heritage claims.
Merkel & her clown crew brought it on themselves.
“Investigators are still looking into reports of a Beagle Hound Dog “Snooping” around.”
For safety reasons, I’m glad they made a big flap out the flap situation.. Do they use a flapjack on the ground to raise the flap???
Angry mechanic, glaring at his aircraft while tapping a heavy wrench against his other hand (with black leather glove): “vee haf vays of taking you off zee deadline report. For you, zee flying ist over. Kaput.”
Hermann Göring was unavailable for comment.
16 + 01 new call sign Grief Ein
16 + 02 new call sign Grief Zwei
I suppose German leaders will now need to make alternative arrangements to travel to the World Economic Forum to continue selling out their people.
So, there is still a Luftwaffe?
I thought they only had Lufthansa.