Syria - Luftwaffe getting ready - AW&ST

Luftwaffe Prepares For First Sorties Over Syria

Dec 11, 2015by Nicholas Fiorenza in Ares

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With its arrival at Incirlik air base Dec. 10, the Luftwaffe is preparing missions over Syria.

Two Tornado Recce and A310 MRTT over Incirlik (photo: Bundeswehr/Andrea Bienert

Luftwaffe Brig.Gen. Andreas Schick, commander of the German contingent in Incirlik, declared upon arrival with a 40-strong advance party, "As of today, we are ready for operations."

Tornado Recce lands in Incirlik (photo: Bundeswehr/Andrea Bienert)

He said the first aerial refueling mission by the Airbus A310 multi-roll tanker transport (MRTT) now based in Incirlik would take place Dec. 16, followed in mid-January by the first Tornado Recce reconnaissance flights.

In addition to the A310 MRTT, up to six Tornado Recce aircraft and 250 Luftwaffe personnel will be based in Incirlik.

The Bundeswehr has produced a video of what is the first "real" operation by the Luftwaffe's A400M.

In the video, the commander of the Luftwaffentruppenkommando (Luftwaffe Force Command), Lt.Gen. Helmut Schütz, says Germany will deploy one or two A310 MRTTs to support German and allied air forces and has assigned officers to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida, and the Combined Air and Space Operations Center (CAOC) in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.