Signal No. 153 · Twelve approvals under the 25-million line

The defence ministry listed on Thursday the submissions the budget committee approved on Wednesday; the list matches all twelve items above EUR 25 million on the agenda ESUT published on 18 September. Air: two further lots of AIM-120 AMRAAM for the F-35A and Eurofighter through US Foreign Military Sales, and two lots of Meteor for tactics and integration trials as the Eurofighter's radar is developed. Sea: a maritime adaptation of IRIS-T SLM for the four F125 frigates, whose "self-defence capabilities must be extended because of the current threat situation in air defence", the multi-purpose combat boats for the Seebataillon, and one NH-90 full-mission simulator upgraded to NGEN Step 3. Land: D-LBO digital radios into the Fennek 1A1 and 1A2, a Fennek conversion to the Joint Fire Support Team A5.1 standard as a bridge to the Boxer JFST vehicles, a second amendment to the close- and very-close-range air defence contract moving its fire-control and missile vehicles onto the Boxer's B0 drive module, and a first amendment to the laser-target-designator framework. Also: a supplementary SINA secure-network framework, a 70 mm rocket framework with a firm order for the Tiger and the light combat helicopter, and a SALIS strategic-airlift follow-on.

The F125 item is the launcher: hartpunkt reported on 8 September that Diehl is to adapt it for the frigates, two per ship with 16 rounds each, a prototype in 2027 and a sea firing possibly early next year, at about EUR 40 million by observers' estimate. The class has no medium-range air-defence missile and no vertical launcher; the LORA rounds the Sachsen-Anhalt fired on 1–2 September came from canisters set on her flight deck.

The ministry names no supplier and no value for any of the twelve. The SINA value exists only in the document Reuters saw on Wednesday: orders up to EUR 1.7 billion for Secunet under a framework agreement, with a first step of orders of just over EUR 100 million, dpa reports from the same document. The laser designators are Elbit Systems Deutschland's, hartpunkt reports from informed sources: a 2024 contract with 66 delivered, raised to almost 400 systems at about EUR 85 million, plus a firm call-off of several dozen at almost EUR 10 million, all delivered in 2027 to complete Hensoldt's dismounted-team kits.

Thomas Röwekamp, the CDU chairman of the defence committee, told Tagesspiegel and Handelsblatt's Background newsletter, in an interview reported on Wednesday, that parliament "should concern itself more with the strategic planning and control of the ministry's decisions, at a point where they can still be meaningfully influenced". Members "need certainty that we are buying, first, the right capabilities and, second, the right quantity"; the ministry should present "a plan with concrete time and target specifications", and because such a plan would reveal capability gaps he wants "a parliamentary control body, as we have for the intelligence services, for defence planning too". In return: "We can abolish the 25-million-euro submissions."

Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the joint venture in which Fincantieri holds 51 per cent and Leonardo 49, signed with OCCAR on Thursday, on behalf of the Italian Navy, a contract of about EUR 3.7 billion for the development, production, logistic studies and initial in-service support of two DDX destroyers. About EUR 1.3 billion of that is options. In the coming weeks the venture will place sub-contracts of about EUR 1.8 billion with Fincantieri, EUR 800 million of it options, and about EUR 1.7 billion with Leonardo, EUR 480 million of it options. The ships replace the two Horizon-class destroyers: 180 metres, 13,500 tonnes, 4,000 nautical miles, a crew of 251, Fincantieri as platform integrator and Leonardo for the combat system, the SADOC 5 command system, a full-digital S-band AESA radar and MBDA weapons for air and missile defence against ballistic and hypersonic threats. Delivery of the first ship is scheduled for 2033 and the second for 2035.

The release describes the ship controlling uncrewed surface and underwater systems from a digital backbone, and names no missile type, radar supplier or shipyard.

Romania's defence ministry said its radar picked up a target over Ukraine near the northern edge of Botoșani county on Thursday morning; two F-16s on air-policing duty took off from Borcea, the target entered national airspace through northern Botoșani, and an RO-Alert went to Botoșani and Suceava counties at 06:26. The update: "the aerial target flew for approximately four minutes in national airspace, then crashed near the locality of Solca, Suceava county, without causing casualties or material damage." Interior-ministry teams secured the site and identified "a small-sized drone, with no fire at the crash site". Overnight a group of targets north of Chilia Veche had brought two Spanish F-18s up from Mihail Kogălniceanu. Moldova's defence ministry reported four airspace incidents in the morning, one drone entering from Klimentsi in Chernivtsi region toward Larga at 06:14 and leaving at 06:16 back toward Klimentsi by the ministry's account; Moldovan police later found fragments with the features of a Gerbera, fitted with a camera, near Cernița in Florești district. The Romanian ministry's releases name no origin and no type.

Radu Miruță, the interim defence minister, live on Digi24 at 10:58: the drone "flew for four minutes in Romanian airspace, coming from Ukraine. This time it did not pass through Moldova, it came through the north of the country exactly at the intersection of the countries' borders", and "appears to be a drone with technical characteristics a little newer than those we had seen until now". It was not shot down because the conditions for a shoot-down "must be met simultaneously. That was not the case." Eight fighters were scrambled between midnight and morning, "which is not a usual thing"; drone entries this year are triple last year's. "It is evident that a protest is needed against those who do not respect international law, such as the Russian Federation"; the diplomatic response, he said, is for the foreign ministry and the presidency.

Czech Gripens flew a second combat patrol over Poland overnight, after one on 18 September, without using force, the Czech armed forces said. On the Mi-8 that crossed north of Braniewo on Wednesday morning, Radosław Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, told reporters in New York the same day, after his Security Council speech: "As I said in one of my previous statements, if the Russian side says 'sorry, the pilot made a mistake', we won't make a big deal of it. But whoever is at fault must own the error." Whether to shoot at Russian aircraft or helicopters, he said, is for the military to decide. No Polish note or summons was announced on Thursday.

Latvia's parliament approved on Thursday the participation of the National Armed Forces in multinational operations to secure the Strait of Hormuz: up to 20 soldiers for mine clearance, 73 votes in favour, none against, no abstentions. The task is limited, LSM reports: "our soldiers will not take part in operations that would support the US as a belligerent in the conflict with Iran." Clearing the strait to restore transit passage under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is estimated at 12 to 16 months; Latvia's participation "in the US-led coalition operation and the UK and France-led multinational operation" runs until 1 September 2028. No ship, unit or start date is named. Lithuania's Seimas passed the same two-operation mandate on 11 June, 77 votes to 11, for up to 40 personnel.