Giessen special ammunition depot

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United StatesUnited States SAS casting
country Germany
local community City of Giessen ,
District of Giessen
Coordinates : 50 ° 36 '  N , 8 ° 44'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 36 '1 "  N , 8 ° 43' 53"  E
Opened 1974, 1988 withdrawal
of US nuclear weapons
Formerly stationed units
3rd Bn, 79th Field Artillery
202 MP (US Military Police) 		United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
SAS Giessen (Hesse)
SAS casting

Location of the special ammunition depot in Gießen in Hesse

The special ammunition storage facility in Gießen (also known as NATO Site # 4 ) was a NATO storage facility for tactical nuclear warheads , a so-called SAS ( Special Ammunition Storage ) . It existed from 1974 to 1988 and was in the open, but within the area of ​​the former US depot northeast of the city of Giessen (see map in the gallery). It was operated solely by the US Army and guarded by their military police. Directly to the west of it was a position of Lance surface-to-surface short-range missiles , on which the nuclear warheads of the special ammunition dump would have been mounted in an emergency in order to be fired against advancing units of the Warsaw Pact - on the territory of the then Federal Republic of Germany or the state of Hesse .

construction

The camp itself was fenced off three to four times and equipped with video cameras and microwave sensors. In addition, there was the high outer fence of the surrounding US depot area. At night, the area around the fences was lit as bright as day with powerful spotlights. The camp had three bulletproof watchtowers , one made of reinforced concrete and two made of steel, all with bulletproof glass, loopholes and rotating searchlights. In addition to a main building and an auxiliary building, the “inner area” of the camp also contained a tarred landing area for Chinook transport helicopters and two multi-secured bunkers for the nuclear warheads.

In the main or guard building, which was also equipped with bulletproof windows and loopholes, soldiers sat in front of screens and display boards for the cameras and motion sensors, and the soldiers from the free watch were there. At the other end of the elongated building was the staircase to the concrete watchtower, on which there were also displays for the monitoring functions. The outbuilding at the other end of the helipad was used for the maintenance of nuclear weapons and other equipment.

The area of ​​the Lance rocket position began 200 meters to the west with seven raised and asphalt launching ramps for their M667 / M752 launching systems (see map and photos in the galleries). A fenced-in area with two buildings and a network of paths were used for the maintenance, storage and rapid provision of the surface-to-surface short-range missiles with liquid fuel. Around three missiles per hour could be fitted with a nuclear warhead, refueled and fired. The Lance missile system was introduced to the US armed forces in Europe from 1973 together with its W70 nuclear warhead , which roughly marked the beginning of this missile position and the special ammunition dump in Giessen, since combating the so-called Fulda Gap was one of their most urgent tasks.

At the beginning it was believed that both facilities within the area of ​​the US depot Gießen would be safe without extended protective measures. Concrete slab pathways built over later, which can be seen on satellite images, bear witness to this early period. From 1979, major modifications were made to the warehouse and the striking concrete tower and the two steel towers - all with bulletproof glass - were built. The triple fence with the microwave sensors and the powerful spotlights were also installed. These additional security measures resulted from the fact that the beginning peace movement had located and published most of these nuclear weapons depots. After the RAF and other terrorist groups carried out attacks a.o. in the 1970s . a. had been perpetrated on US facilities, it was imperative to prevent this from happening again in sensitive areas such as nuclear weapons storage facilities, not to mention the possibility of terrorists gaining control of these weapons.

  • US Depot Giessen with Lance missile position & special ammunition storage

  • Aerial view of the US depot Gießen 2005 with both facilities

  • View from the north of the special ammunition dump with tower and bunker

  • Lance missile with its launch vehicle in a US museum

  • Warning signs in the vicinity of the warehouse (no longer available)

  • Former facilities of the US Army and the Bundeswehr near Giessen

Where the high outer fence of the US depot prevented getting close to the camp, large signs were hung at regular intervals warning the curious about entering the so declared restricted area (see warning sign in the gallery above). In addition, photography and making drawings or sketches of the facility were prohibited. The guards had strict orders to use the firearm in the event of unauthorized approaches, even without warning inside.

Nuclear weapons

Of the two bunkers in the inner area, the somewhat larger one was secured twice and the somewhat smaller one even threefold: an outer wire mesh in front of the bunker door was intended to reduce the penetration of armor-piercing weapons. Behind it were one or two massive steel doors until the inside of the respective bunker was reached. The W70 nuclear warheads for the Lance missile system with an adjustable explosive force of 1 - 100  kT TNT equivalent were stored there in unknown numbers . For comparison: the Hiroshima bomb had an explosive force of 12.5 kT.

In 1981, the W70-3 ER (Enhanced Radiation), a further developed variant of this warhead, was put into service, which made headlines at the time under the name of the neutron bomb . Nuclear battlefield weapons should now be able to be used in a more targeted manner and with lower explosive force (1 kT) but increased radiation against advancing troops, without harming the surrounding population in cities and villages. At least that's how people thought for a few years until this type of weapon was retired in 1991. Since 380 of the W70-3 ER were produced exclusively for the Lance rocket and the deployment profile on site was exactly the same, it is very likely that in the 1980s, specimens of this type in the exclusively US-run warehouse in Gießen were secretly deposited, which contemporary witnesses have since confirmed.

  • Photos of a W70 nuclear warhead in the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Albuquerque , New Mexico . Pay particular attention to the small switch box in the lower area, with which you could set the detonation strength from 1 - 100 kT, i.e. from significantly less than Hiroshima to significantly stronger than Hiroshima.

Panoramic view

Panorama view of the camp from the north-west, with a concrete tower (left), steel tower (middle right) and nuclear weapons bunker (right)

Battalions

There were a total of six US battalions with Lance missile locations in Germany and four so-called rocket artillery battalions of the Bundeswehr, which were equipped with Lance missiles and nuclear warheads as part of nuclear participation :

United StatesUnited States United States : US Army

GermanyGermany Germany : Bundeswehr

If you take several dozen nuclear warheads per battalion as ammunition - because that many fit without any problems including transport containers in the two bunkers near Gießen, then the total number of nuclear warheads in all ten battalions was several hundred - for the Lance weapon system in Germany alone.

Whereabouts

The special ammunition depot and the Lance missile emplacement were abandoned in 1988 and have been idle ever since. The surrounding US depot was largely closed in 2007 and finally closed in 2017, and the site was returned to the city of Giessen . The former warehouse and the surrounding green spaces with a total of 75 hectares are now owned by the federal government and are looked after by the Federal Forests division of the Federal Agency for Real Estate . The largely undeveloped area is closed to the public and completely fenced. It is left to nature; Only in the summer months do cattle and sheep keep the vegetation in check on the green areas.

In the meantime, this part of the former US depot - as well as the former Patriot missile position on the neighboring Hohe Warte - has been declared a national natural heritage . Because this part of the depot site is home to important breeding areas for Red-backed Shrike , wheatear , Stonechat , Meadow Pipit and Reed Bunting . The northern area of ​​the former US depot came into question for designation as a natural heritage because the Federal Real Estate Agency and the city of Gießen had decided to add this area to the Flora-Fauna-Habitat (FFH area) Wieseckaue .

Photos, May - July 2019

  • Entrance gates with the “greened” guard or main building on the right

  • The elongated main building is already completely overgrown

  • The triple fence with an outer and an inner strip

  • One of several far-reaching microwave sensors in front of the fence

  • The striking watchtower in reinforced concrete construction with shooting openings

  • Inside the concrete tower: loopholes and bulletproof panes

  • The front watchtower made of steel, surrounded by powerful spotlights

  • Inside the steel tower: loopholes and bulletproof panes

  • The rear watchtower made of steel is already overlooked by trees

  • The helipad in the inner area of ​​the camp

  • The open bunkers for the nuclear battlefield weapons

  • The first and larger of the two bunkers with double security

  • The empty interior of the first bunker to hold nuclear weapons

  • The triple securing of the second bunker can be clearly seen here

  • The empty interior of the second bunker, in which nuclear weapons were stored

  • Service area and storage area for the Lance short-range missiles

  • One of seven ramps for launching the nuclear warhead lance

See also

Neighboring former military facilities:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ US Army: 79th Field Artillery in Giessen
  2. ↑ "3rd Bn, 79th FA (Lance)" (service from 1975 to 1978)
  3. ↑ Nuclear Weapons AZ: Gießen (US Site # 4)
  4. ↑ GlobalSecurity.org: W70 and W70-3 were part of the NATO forces
  5. ↑ NATO Site # 4 Gießen: special "neutron" heads were kept
  6. ↑ Size of a W70 nuclear warhead
  7. ^ Gießener Allgemeine: The "Ground Zero" in the Wieseckaue