Reconnaissance squadron of the Bundeswehr

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Coats of arms of reconnaissance organizations

As Reconnaissance Wing were associations of the Air Force of the Armed Forces called, with reconnaissance aircraft information to military intelligence procured.

assignment

Order in peace

The tasks in peacetime are the establishment and maintenance of personnel and material operational readiness, participation in operations for national and alliance defense, participation in operations under the mandate of the United Nations, aid in the context of disaster control, demonstration of the military presence, flights within the framework administrative assistance for federal and state authorities as well as operations in the context of Search and Rescue .

Order in a crisis

The additional assignments during a crisis are the increase in personnel and material readiness for action, the intensification of tactical training to increase operational readiness and the readiness for action in the context of crisis management.

Mission in action / case of defense

The task of a reconnaissance squadron includes, in the event of an emergency or defense, the support of military operations by reconnaissance of the opposing land and naval forces, combat facilities and command and supply facilities. In addition, target reconnaissance and the determination of one's own weapons effect are part of the area of ​​responsibility.

history

Coat of arms of the WaSLw 50 (until 1964)

The Luftwaffe had four pure reconnaissance squadrons. The first formation of all reconnaissance squadrons took place in the period from 1959 to 1963 at the Erding air base in Bavaria from the Luftwaffe 50 weapons school intended for this purpose .

The first AG 51

Coat of arms of the former AG 51

The reconnaissance wing 51 ( retired) was put into service on July 7, 1959 in Erding under the commodore Lieutenant Colonel Walter Grasemann, a former fighter pilot and Knight's Cross holder of the Wehrmacht . It was intended for the southern area of ​​the Federal Republic of Germany and thus the area of ​​operation of the 4th ATAF . The squadron was initially set up at Manching Air Base in 1960 and moved to Bremgarten in 1969 , where it remained until it was decommissioned on March 17, 1993. Bremgarten airfield had the ICAO code EDSG (1990). The squadron received the nickname "Immelmann" (after Max Immelmann ) in 1961.

The second AG 51

Coat of arms of AG 51 since 1994

As a successor to AG 51, the reconnaissance wing 51 "Immelmann" (AG 51 "I") was established in April 1993 at Schleswig Air Base. The name of the squadron and the traditional name "Immelmann", as well as the panther as the squadron coat of arms, were adopted by the two disbanded squadrons. The AG 51 "I" was ceremoniously put into service in January 1994 by the then Inspector of the Air Force Lieutenant General Jörg Kuebart in January 1994. Since the panther head was included in the squadron coat of arms, the AG 51 has regularly participated in the NATO Tiger Meet .

With a photo day / Spottersday, as well as a big family day, the reconnaissance wing 51 "Immelmann" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Air Force's tactical air reconnaissance on July 14th, 2009.

On March 3, 2010, the 2nd squadron for unmanned reconnaissance systems with a squadron roll call was put into service.

On October 1, 2013, the reconnaissance wing 51 was renamed Tactical Air Force Wing 51 "Immelmann" (TaktLwG 51 "I"). Since then, the Bundeswehr has no longer been designated as a reconnaissance squadron.

AG 52

Coat of arms of the former AG 52

On December 12, 1959, the reconnaissance wing 52 was put into service; The squadron's first commodore was Major Metz. In October 1960 the AG 52 was relocated to Eggebek , and in 1964 to the airfield near Leck . The AG 52 ended its service on December 15, 1993.

AG 53

LeKG 44

The reconnaissance wing 53 was set up on October 1, 1960 in Erding. The squadron was stationed at Leipheim airfield from May 1962 . Its use as a pure reconnaissance squadron ended with the restructuring of the Light Combat Squadron 44 on June 1, 1965.

AG 54

LeKG 43

The AG 54 was set up on April 1, 1962 as the last reconnaissance squadron in Erding. From January 1963, the Oldenburg air base was the location of the squadron. The dissolution took place on October 1, 1964 due to a lack of staff.
From the remaining staff of AG 54 and the Jagdgeschwader 72, which had been relocated from Leck to Oldenburg, Fighter Bomber Wing 43 was formed in October 1964 . From May 1966, the Saber Mk.6 was converted to the Fiat G.91 , and one year later it was renamed to Leichtes Kampfgeschwader 43.
The squadron was subordinate to the command of the 3rd Air Force Division and stationed at the Oldenburg Air Base Parts of the Luftwaffe 10 weapons school stationed there was evacuated. In the event of a defense, the Wunstorf and Bückeburg airfields and management by the 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force (2nd ATAF) were planned as alternative airfields (NATO Dispersed Operating Bases (DOB)) . On March 31, 1980, the association was regrouped into Fighter Bomber Wing 43, which was equipped with the Alpha Jet from 1981 .

equipment

The initial equipment of the reconnaissance squadrons 51 and 52 initially consisted of 36 aircraft of the tactical reconnaissance version of the Republic F-84 “Thunderflash” (a total of 108 RF-84s were procured) and four Lockheed T-33 A jet trainers , called “T-Bird”. In 1964 the AG 51 and 52 were equipped with the RF-104G ; however, this was replaced by 44 McDonnell F-4 aircraft in the RF-4E version from the beginning of 1971 to the end of 1972 . The unarmed RF-4E was enabled as part of the "Combat Value Enhancement" project in 1979/1980 to also be used as a fighter-bomber. Only the Fiat G.91 was used in reconnaissance squadrons 53 and 54 . In addition, from 1974 the AG 51 and 52 were each equipped with a Dornier Do 28 D-2 as liaison aircraft; The Dornier Do 27 previously performed this task .

The TaktLwG 51 "I" is currently equipped with Panavia Tornado Recce and ECR aircraft . In addition to manned combat aircraft, the Air Force also uses unmanned aircraft for aerial reconnaissance today and in the future . IAI Heron 1 are currently operated , but only on a leasing basis as part of the ISAF mission.

  • Republic F-84, Schleswig Jagl

  • Lockheed T-33A of the AG 52 in the Air Force Museum Berlin-Gatow

  • in the back an RF 104 from the AG 51, in front of it an RF-101C from the USAF

  • RF 4 E of AG 52, Ramstein AFB

  • Fiat G-91 of the LeKG 43, Museum of Aviation and Technology in Wernigerode

  • Thu 28 of AG 52, Leck - cross servicing + Do Flight

  • Panavia Tornado IDS of AG 51

  • Heron 1

  • euro Hawk

Web links

Commons : Bundeswehr reconnaissance squadron  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information about the order at luftwaffe.de. Accessed on October 23, 2010
  2. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 .
  3. ↑ mil-airfields.de: Military Airfield Directory: Flugplatz / Fliegerhorst Bremgarten (Luftwaffe, AG 51) , accessed on January 6, 2011
  4. ↑ luftwaffe.de: A new era begins , accessed on January 6, 2011
  5. ↑ Aufklärungsgeschwader 52 Chronik, 1st edition 1993, p. 24 ff.
  6. ↑ Heinz Rebhan: "Structure and Organization of the Air Force 1955 to 1971"; In: Bernd Lemke; Dieter Krüger; Heinz Rebhan; Wolfgang Schmidt: The Air Force 1950 to 1970. Concept, structure, integration. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-486-57973-8
  7. ↑ Aufklärungsgeschwader 52 Chronik, 1st edition 1993, p. 24
  8. ↑ Aufklärungsgeschwader 52 Chronik, 1st edition 1993, p. 139
  9. ↑ Aufklärungsgeschwader 52 Chronik, 1st edition 1993, p. 144.
  10. ↑ German Bundestag Printed Matter 16/12193 of 9 March 2009 - unmanned introduction and importance of military vehicles and aircraft