Germany's Luftwaffe opens new headquarters to command air operations
The German air force is strengthening its ability to plan and command defence operations from a new headquarters in north-western Germany.
A new Air Component Command (ACC) went into service on Friday in Kalkar, near Germany's border with the Netherlands.
Lieutentant General Ingo Gerhartz called the redeveloped command post a "decisive point" for Germany's "national and alliance defence."
The headquarters will facilitate multinational operations between NATO allies and the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force.
"Air Defender, the largest air force deployment exercise, showed that it took some time before we were able to command our partners' aircraft. We are now changing that with the ACC," Gerhartz told dpa on Friday.
The German military said the headquarters is "capable of operationally implementing political decisions on the employment of air forces within the scope of national and collective defence at any time without lead time, thus ensuring immediate response capability at any time in the event of a crisis."
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