The Quest for Relevant Air Power

GERMAN Air Force │ 161
Moreover, the nuclear missile squadrons were disbanded, and the
airborne nuclear component was reduced. 57
Alongside these reductions, the air defence role received new
emphasis. With German reunification and the reestablishment of
full sovereignty, the GAF was tasked with the duty of air policing,
previously confined to the United States and Great Britain. 58 As a
result, all F-4F Phantom and MiG-29 aircraft were assigned to the
air defence and air policing role. 59
Courtesy German Air Force; photo by Toni Dahmen
F-4F Phantom II. To remain relevant pending delivery of the Eurofighter,
the F-4F fleet had to undergo significant upgrades. By December 1996, 65
F-4F Phantom IIs had been delivered. The most essential components of
the retrofit included the integration of the APG-65 radar and the AIM-120
AMRAAM.
The next major reform step, Air Force Structure 5 (see fig. 2),
was initiated against the backdrop of the 1999–2000 defence reform
initiative on 1 October 2001. 60 Air Force Structure 5 foresaw
the transfer of 17,000 GAF personnel to a newly established Joint
Support Service. 61 This represented a considerable thrust towards
jointness as it forced all of the services to cooperate in the areas of
C2, training, maintenance, and logistics, thereby reducing redundancies.
62 The single-service GAF Support Command was no longer
needed. Furthermore, the C2 structure was compressed by
disbanding both Regional Command North and Regional Command
South. 63 Total combat strength of Air Force Structure 5 was
eight operational flying wings and four SAM wings. The flying
units were divided into four ground-attack wings, one reconnaissance
wing, and three air defence wings. 64