Es ist ein ohrenbetäubend grelles Rauschen, mit dem die deutschen Kampfflugzeuge vor dem offenen Hangar vorfahren. Einige Hundert japanische Soldaten in blau-grauem Flecktarn stehen auf der einen Seite, etwa hundert deutsche Soldaten in beige auf der anderen Seite der großen Halle, am hinteren Ende eine Gruppe japanischer Journalisten. Sie alle beobachten, wie erst ein Tankflugzeug, zwei Frachtmaschinen und schließlich mehrere deutsche Eurofighter auf der Landebahn aufsetzen. Zwei große rote Feuerwehrlöschzüge empfangen sie mit Wasserfontänen.
Dann endlich dürfen die Piloten ihre Flugzeuge zu ihren Standplätzen am Militärstützpunkt Chitose auf der japanischen Nordinsel Hokkaido fahren und nach einer kurzen Pause auch die Glasdächer ihrer Kanzeln aufklappen. Sie kommen direkt von einer NATO-Übung in Alaska und haben 7,5 Stunden Flug in ihren kleinen Kanzeln hinter sich. Die meisten strecken sich erst einmal, bevor sie in ihren dunkelgrünen Schutzanzügen etwas hölzern die mobilen Treppen hinabsteigen.
„Ich brauche jetzt erst mal eine Dusche und ein kühles Bier“, sagt einer von ihnen, der sich nur Major Snomi nennen will. Alles sei gut gegangen. Aber so ein Kampfflugzeug sei nun einmal kein Ferienflieger. Immerhin: Die Russen haben sich nicht blicken lassen. Mit einer Eskorte russischer Kampfflieger hatte die Luftwaffe durchaus gerechnet, da die Route knapp am russischen Luftraum vorbeiführte.
Luftwaffe will schnell im Indopazifik sein können
Mit dem Besuch und mehreren Übungen in Japan geht das Großprojekt „Pacific Skies“ in seine kritische Phase. Die Luftwaffe will mit der „größten und komplexesten“ Verlegung ihrer Geschichte Flagge zeigen im Indopazifik und so auch zur Stabilität in der Region beitragen. China, Russland und Nordkorea sollen sehen, dass auch die deutsche Luftwaffe rasch vor Ort sein könnte, wenn ihre zunehmenden Aggressionen tatsächlich mal in einem bewaffneten Konflikt eskalieren würden. „Gemeinsam wollen wir den freien Indopazifik bewahren und stärken“, sagt der japanische Luftwaffenkommandeur Nobutaka Tanaka zur Begrüßung der deutschen Kollegen.
The Air Force is participating in “Pacific Skies” with more than 30 combat aircraft, helicopters, transport and tanker aircraft. Spain and France are participating with 15 aircraft. After the exercises in Alaska and Japan, further joint maneuvers are planned in Hawaii, Australia and in mid-August in India. The aircraft and their pilots will cover a total of 38,000 kilometers and 2,500 flight hours in the eight weeks.
Here in Japan, Marco Brunhofer is now taking over command. The lieutenant colonel of the Steinhoff Tactical Air Force Squadron from Rostock-Laage has been planning the joint exercises with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces for months. The cooperation between the two armies is a first. Brunhofer has been in the country for a few days and, during a conversation in his hotel in Chitose, he can already report that the cultural and linguistic differences do not make cooperation with the Japanese particularly easy.
“Japanese politeness is often not very effective in military agreements. The Japanese often say something where I would much rather say a clear no,” says Brunhofer, who is a man of clear words. “Planning takes much longer here than in Germany because everything is meticulously planned down to the last detail.” Hierarchies are also much more important in Japan than in Germany, especially in the military. “In Japan, rank is the most important thing,” says Brunhofer. “Even a lieutenant colonel has to check his position much more often than in the Bundeswehr.”
Japan looks to Putin, Xi and Kim
They are here to learn about these differences and to adapt to them. The soldiers want to lay the foundations in case the Bundeswehr is actually needed in the Indo-Pacific. There is enough tension there. Just a few days ago, China and Russia began a joint naval exercise in the South China Sea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un celebrated their despotic friendship with a large military parade in Pyongyang. At the same time, Donald Trump’s recent statements in defense of Taiwan have shown that with him as president, the United States can no longer be relied upon as a protector of the free, democratic world.
When Brunhofer is asked whether he is worried that the joint exercises of the Western armies in the Indo-Pacific could lead to an escalation with China, Russia and North Korea, he answers diplomatically: “Our commitment is intended to show our partners that we are on their side,” says the commander. “I do not see our exercise here as a deterrent. We are not training against a specific country. We are training in case we are deployed together at some point.”
Cultural barriers
In this case, the Germans and the Japanese will have to start from scratch in many things, not least because Japan is not in NATO. “Within NATO, everything is standardized. If someone talks about a certain procedure, everyone knows immediately what is meant,” says Brunhofer. Here, every code used in communication between fighter planes must first be agreed upon and practiced. “It’s like in the national team, where the players from different teams first have to get to know each other and get used to each other.”
Germany and Japan are also looking at how cooperation could be further expanded in the future. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced this just last week after a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Berlin. Both armies have ordered F-35 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems. Cooperation in training is also conceivable.
One of the most difficult tasks of the large-scale exercise “Pacific Skies” awaits Brunhofer when the exercises in Japan are over on Tuesday. Then he will fly one of the Eurofighters from Chitose to Hawaii: at ten and a half hours, it will be the longest flight a Eurofighter has ever flown in one go. And that over long stretches over the Pacific with no land in sight.
The 44-year-old fighter pilot says he spent a long time preparing with the flight doctor and psychologist to find tactics to combat the fatigue, pain and bore-out that will come at some point. Mind games and guessing games, stretching exercises while sitting, and moving the seat up and down are all meant to help pass the time.
“We don’t want to put the bird in the water”
And then there is the regular refueling. Every one to one and a half hours, the planes have to dock with the tanker aircraft that is flying alongside them, which always flies ahead of them like a hen with her chicks. The pilots are never allowed to go more than a mile away from them. The entire flight route is designed so that the Eurofighters never run out of fuel. “We don’t want to put the bird in the water,” says Brunhofer.
They are following a route that allows them to use their fuel to make an emergency landing at a friendly airport. That’s why the flight to Hawaii takes significantly longer than a scheduled flight.
Brunhofer is not worried about his plane. “When you engage in aerial combat, it is much more strenuous for the planes. They carry up to nine times their own weight on their wings and have to constantly turn and change speed,” says the lieutenant colonel. In comparison, long-distance flight is almost like a scheduled flight.
Brunhofer has also flown what he calls “robust missions”. He was stationed in Mali for six months and was responsible for the United Nations aircraft. The man from Upper Palatinate, who maintains his local dialect, has been with the Air Force since 1998. First he flew Tornados, then he retrained for the Eurofighter and also became a flight instructor. The ten-and-a-half-hour flight to Hawaii will be a new challenge for the experienced fighter pilot. And that’s a good thing: “If you always do the same thing, mistakes quickly creep in.”
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