For national and alliance defense, Germany is repositioning itself for the first time since the Cold War. The first version of the Germany operational plan should be ready soon.
According to Lieutenant General André Bodemann, there will have to be “significantly more” soldiers in homeland security in the future for military security tasks and the protection of one’s own infrastructure. “Six homeland security regiments are not enough to protect the defense-important infrastructure if I want to protect them exclusively with homeland security,” said Bodemann, commander of the Bundeswehr’s Territorial Command, to the German Press Agency in Berlin.
The general and his command are about to complete a first version of the Germany operational plan (“OPLAN”), with which the defense will be reorganized for the first time since the Cold War. A first version of the document, which is top secret and contains hundreds of pages, is expected to be ready by the end of March.
The Bundeswehr will set up six homeland security regiments by 2027, which will then include an estimated 6,000 men and women. In peacetime, they can be used for official and disaster relief – from serious accidents to terrorist situations to pandemics.
In the event of tension and defense or even in the event of a crisis, homeland security forces also secure and protect ports and railway facilities, goods transshipment points, pipelines, roads for the deployment of troops, bridges, transport hubs and digital infrastructure.
