| Native Name: | German: Flugbereitschaft des Bundesministeriums der Verteidigung |
| Unit Name: | Executive Transport Wing of the Federal Ministry of Defence |
| Dates: | 1 April 1957 – present |
| Country: |  Germany |
| Branch: | German Air Force |
| Role: | Air Transport |
| Command Structure: | Air Force Command (German: Luftwaffentruppenkommando) |
| Aircraft Transport: | Formerly: Boeing 707, Tu-154, VFW-Fokker 614, HFB 320 Hansa Jet, L-410, Mi-8, Airbus A310 Present: Airbus A350, Airbus A340, Airbus A321, Airbus A319, Eurocopter AS 532, |
| Garrison: | Cologne Bonn Airport, Berlin Tegel Airport |
The Executive Transport Wing of the Federal Ministry of Defence (German: Flugbereitschaft des Bundesministeriums der Verteidigung, abb.: FlBschftBMVg or FBS BMVg, literally translated as Flight Readiness [Service] of the Federal Ministry of Defence) is a flying formation of the German Air Force with a wide variety of tasks. Occasionally it is ambiguously listed as the Special Air Missions Wing in English language articles. The wing is based at Cologne Bonn Airport with Berlin Tegel Airport used as a location for its helicopters. It is planned to bring the two operating locations together at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
The Flugbereitschaft was formed On April 1, 1957, at the Nörvenich Air Base as a small unit providing liaison flights to the Defence Ministry. In July 1959 it relocated to Cologne Bonn Airport and reformed as the 3. Squadron of the Air Force's Transport Wing 62 (3./LTG-62). In April 1963 it became an independent unit with its status raised from a squadron to a group. In 1974 its status was upgraded to a full wing (Geschwader).
As a legacy from the Second World War the role of the German military was a very sensitive topic and the Bundeswehr was constituted as a strictly defensive force within the borders of West Germany. Correspondingly the Flugbereitschaft was limited to providing government transport to federal government of defence ministry officials. With the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the country's increased involvement in peacekeeping and humanitarian aid missions overseas at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first centuries came a need for air-to-air refueling and long range transport aircraft. With the addition of Airbus A310 MRTT to the Flugbereitschaft an informal distinction was introduced for its aircraft. The government transport aircraft are called the "white fleet" (die weiße Flotte), painted in white with a thin black-red-gold stripe and a Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany) inscription. The military transport and tanker aircraft are called the "grey fleet" (die graue Flotte), painted in grey with a Luftwaffe (German Air Force) inscription. The helicopters make an exception of this rule, sporting the retro look of the white fleet, with two tones of blue stripes on a white body and a Luftwaffe inscription. The grey fleet is subordinated to the European Air Transport Command.
West Germany had its capital in Bonn, while East Germany's capital was Berlin. With the reunification it was decided that Berlin will be the sole capital city of the country. As the institutions of the united Germany were based on the West-German ones in Bonn and could not be moved in short time, the Flugbereitschaft played an important role executing shuttle flights (Pendelflüge) for federal government officials and parliamentarians between the two cities. Additionally the wing keeps a VIP aircraft in flight readiness in Berlin detached to from its MOB at Cologne Bonn IAP. The German government and Federal Ministry of Defence plan to consolidate the wing at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
On 15 June 2022, the wing retired its last Airbus A310 MRTT.[1] The retirement was scheduled at the end of February 2022, but the aircraft was kept in service due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[2]
The Flugbereitschaft carries out missions in the following areas:[3]
The Flugbereitschaft operates a diverse fleet of aircraft. Its main operating base is the military area of Cologne Bonn Airport with Berlin Tegel Airport used as a secondary location for its helicopters.[4] Beginning on October 21, 2020, two years after completion and two weeks after a successful dress rehearsal, political-parliamentary flight operations officially began at the new government interim terminal at the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. The facility can handle up to 25 official flights per day. However, it is only a temporary terminal. The final terminal is due to be built in 2034, so that the unit's entire fleet of aircraft can move from Cologne-Wahn airport. Cougar helicopters will remain on the former Tegel airfield until 2029 due to lack of space.[5]
Executive Transport Wing of the Federal Ministry of Defence (Flugbereitschaft des Bundesministeriums der Verteidigung) (Cologne Bonn Airport)
Due to the geographical detachment of the 3. Air Transport Squadron from the wing's main operating location at Cologne Bonn IAP and due to the specifics of its helicopter operations, the squadron is an integrated unit, which also includes ground technical personnel in addition to its air crews.
| Military Transport Airplanes (1st Air Transport Squadron) | |||||
| Airbus A321LR | 2022–present[6] | 15+10 | Medical evacuation | ||
| 2022–present[7] | 15+11 | ||||
| Executive Transport Airplanes (2nd Air Transport Squadron) | |||||
| Airbus A350 | 2022–present | 10+01 "Konrad Adenauer" | Long range governmental air transport | Airbus A350-941 | |
| 2023–present | 10+02 "Theodor Heuss" | Airbus A350-941 | |||
| 2021–present | 10+03 "Kurt Schumacher" | Airbus A350-941 | |||
| Airbus A321 | 2018–present | 15+04 | Medium range governmental air transport Aeromedical evacuation | Airbus A321-231 ex. "Neustadt an der Weinstraße" D-AISE of Lufthansa | |
| Airbus A319CJ | 2010–present | 15+01 | Medium range governmental air transport | Airbus A319-133X CJ | |
| 2010–present | 15+02 | Airbus A319-133X CJ | |||
| 2019–present | 15+03 | Open Skies | Airbus A319-133X CJ ex. VP-CVX of Volkswagen Air Service | ||
| Bombardier Global Express 5000/6000 | 2011–present | 14+02 | Medium range governmental air transport Short range governmental air transport | ||
| 2011–present | 14+03 | ||||
| 2011–present | 14+04 | ||||
| 2019–present | 14+05 | ||||
| 2019–present | 14+06 | ||||
| 2019–present | 14+07 | ||||
| Executive Transport Helicopters (3rd Air Transport Squadron) | |||||
| Eurocopter AS532U2 Cougar | 1997–present | 82+01 | Berlin area governmental air transport | ||
| 1997–present | 82+02 | ||||
| 1998–present | 82+03 | ||||
| Airplanes | ||||||
| De Havilland DH.114 Heron 2D | 1957–1963 | 2 | CA+001, CA+002 | |||
| Piaggio P.149 | 1957–1969 | ? | ||||
| Percival Pembroke C54 | 1958–1968 | ? | ||||
| Dornier Do 27 | 1958–1979 | ? | ||||
| Convair CV-340 | 1959–1974 | 5 | 12+01 - 12+05 | Originally CA+031 - CA+035. | ||
| Convair CV-440 | 1959–1974 | 1 | 12+06 | Originally CA+036. | ||
| Dornier Do 28A-1 | 1961–1968 | 1 | CA+041 | |||
| Douglas DC-6 | 1962–1969 | 4 | 13+01 - 13+04 | Originally first two a/c numbered CA+034 and CA+035, later renumbered CA+021 and CA+022. Third and fourth a/c numbered CA+023, CA+024. | ||
| Lockheed JetStar C-140A/B | 1963–1986 | 3 (+1) | 11+01 - 11+03 | Originally CA+101 - CA+103. Fourth a/c acquired in 1968 as attrition replacement for CA-102 and numbered 11+02. | ||
| Boeing B707-307C | 1968–1999 | 4 | 10+01 - 10+04 | |||
| HFB 320M Hansa Jet | 1969–1988 | 8 | 16+01 - 16+08 | |||
| Dornier Do 28D-1 | 1971–1988 | 4 | 59+01 - 59+04 | |||
| VFW 614 | 1977–1998 | 3 | 17+01 - 17+03 | |||
| Bombardier Challenger 601 | 1986–2011 | 7 | 12+01 - 12+07 | |||
| Tupolev Tu-154M | 1991–1999 | 2 | 11+01 - 11+02 | ex-East-German Air Force VIP aircraft. | ||
| Ilyushin Il-62 | 1991–1993 | 3 | 11+20 - 11+22 | ex-East-German Air Force VIP aircraft. | ||
| Let L-410 | 1991–2000 | 4 | 53+09 - 53+12 | ex-East-German Air Force VIP aircraft. | ||
| Airbus A310 MRT | 1991–2021 | 1 | 10+23 | "Kurt Schumacher",[8] formerly Airbus A310-304 DDR-ABC, later D-AOAC of Interflug | ||
| Airbus A310 | 1993–2013 | 2 | 10+21 - 10+22 | ex-East-German government aircraft. | ||
| Airbus A310 MRTT | 2007–2021 | 4 | 10+24 | "Otto Lilienthal", formerly Airbus A310-304 D-AIDA of Lufthansa | ||
| 1999–2022 | 10+25 | "Hermann Köhl", formerly Airbus A310-304 D-AIDB of Lufthansa | ||||
| 2001–2021 | 10+26 | "Hans Grade", formerly Airbus A310-304 "Speyer" D-AIDE of Lufthansa | ||||
| 10+27 | "August Euler", formerly Airbus A310-304 "Fellbach" D-AIDI of Lufthansa | |||||
| Airbus A340 | 2011–2023 | 2 | 16+01 | Airbus A340-313X VIP, "Konrad Adenauer" previously "Leipzig" D-AIGR of Lufthansa | ||
| 16+02 | Airbus A340-313X VIP, "Theodor Heuss" previously "Gummersbach" D-AIFB of Lufthansa | |||||
| Bombardier Global Express 5000 | 2011–2019 | 1 | 14+01 | Crashed on 16 April 2019 at Berlin Schönefeld Airport and was not returned to service. An investigation found improper maintenance by to be the cause.[9] [10] | ||
| Helicopters | ||||||
| Bristol Sycamore | 1958–1959 | 2 | CA+327 - CA+328 | |||
| H-34G Choctaw | 1959–1972 | 2 | ||||
| Bell UH-1D | 1968–2000 | 4 | ||||
| Mil Mi-8S | 1993–1997 | 6 | 93+51 - 93+56 | ex-East-German Air Force VIP aircraft. | ||