The Quest for Relevant Air Power

GERMAN Air Force │ 163
Centre (Nationales Lage- und Führungszentrum—Sicherheit im
Luftraum) was established in July 2003 for ensuring airspace security.
The centre coordinates interception missions between the
GAF, the MOD, and civilian ministries, which allows for timecritical
decision making. 66 The centre is collocated with the GAF
Air Operations Command, and it is directly responsible to the
chief of the Air Staff (Inspekteur der Luftwaffe) in questions of
national airspace security. 67
Defence budget cuts rendered a timely and entire adoption of
Air Force Structure 5 infeasible. By late 2002, the necessity to
achieve a balance between available resources and actual operational
requirements had become paramount. 68 This, in turn, required
further substantial reductions. To achieve savings with immediate
effect, Navy Tornado combat aircraft and their maritime
tasks were to be transferred to the GAF, while the equivalent of
two GAF Tornado wings were simultaneously reduced. Additionally,
the disbanding of Hawk and Roland SAM systems—originally
planned for 2008 and 2012, respectively—was announced. 69
These quantitative adjustments ushered in Air Force Structure 6
(see fig. 3), the adoption of which commenced in 2005–6. 70
Chief of the Air Staff
Air Staff
GAF Command
GAF Office
1st AD
2d AD
4th AD
Figure 3. Air Force Structure 6 (GAF) simplified diagram. (Adapted
from “Further Development of the Luftwaffe—Luftwaffe Structure
6,” in CPM Forum: Luftwaffe 2005—The German Air Force Today
and Tomorrow, managing director Wolfgang Flume and project director
Jürgen Hensel [Sankt Augustin, Germany: CPM Communication
Presse Marketing GmbH, 2005], 47.)