One Year Weapons School

On 1. October 2019, the Chief of Air Force Staff put the weapons school into service. What is the current situation one year later?

Even there was no weapons instructor course hold in 2020, the preparations for the integration and individual planning of the training content Eurofighter, Tornado, A400M, Air Battle Management (ABM) and Military Intelligence are in full swing. The next Weapons Instructor Course (WICWeapons Instructor Course 02/21) will start in February 2021.

As in previous years, the planning is still based on various high-quality exercise scenarios. These include a live drop campaign with GBUGuided Bomb Unit-48 precision bombs and a live shot campaign with IRIS-TInfra-Red Imaging System–Tail/Thrust Vector-Controlled guided missiles. However, the implementation planning for the BALTIC HUNTER exercise in Laage has also picked up speed. In 2021, all jet and support squadrons of the Air Force will train together as part of the exercise. The long-term partnership with the „Koninklijke Luchtmacht“ weapons school of the Royal Netherlands Air Force will further intensified. In 2021, the final exercise will take place in the Netherlands.

Currently, around 20 WUGs (Weapons Undergraduates) are intensively preparing themselves for the course in their home squadrons. The commander of the Luftwaffe weapons school, Lieutenant Colonel Dirk Pingel, expresses himself confidently: “Even before the current Corona restrictions, the Luftwaffe weapons school relied heavily on virtual media, so that the current situation has only few restrictions on the planning meetings and the intended course. All projects, meetings and workshops take place as intended.”