Eco-Fuel Makes German Tornado Fleet Unsafe To Fly

According to local media, the fuel used by the German Tornado fleet appears to have been mixed with ‘too much bio-diesel’.

The news site Frankfurter Allgemeine reported this was noticed during a routine check last Monday:

“The tolerance values are minimally exceeded,” said Colonel Kristof Conrath of the Tactical Air Force Squadron 51. “It’s not that the aircraft would fall from the sky. For safety reasons, all tanks of the aircraft must be flushed.”

It is understood that this breakdown is particularly annoying for the Luftwaffe, as training of new Tornado pilots is already three months behind.

This comes after we reported that the German military is under-equipped to take on its upcoming role as leader of NATO’s Russian-aimed Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.

German #Bundeswehr Tornados cannot fly at the moment, as there is too much biodiesel in the kerosine.
I swear I am not actively looking for these stories, it’s just one after the other. https://t.co/5T5cvS5cLN

— Ulrike E Franke (@RikeFranke) February 19, 2018

The Bundeswehr is due to take over leadership of NATO’s multinational Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) at the start of next year, but doesn’t have enough tanks, a leaked Defence Ministry document said.

Specifically, the Bundeswehr’s ninth tank brigade in Münster only has nine operational Leopard 2 tanks — even though it promised to have 44 ready for the VJTF — and only three of the promised 14 Marder armored infantry vehicles.

The paper also revealed the reason for this shortfall: a lack of spare parts and the high cost and time needed to maintain the vehicles. It added that it was also lacking night-vision equipment, automatic grenade launchers, winter clothing and body armor.

Read more at UKDJ