Is "Someone" Fiddl'n With the German Navy?

Russia being Russia...

It appears that someone is messing with one of the new construction German Braunschweig-class corvettes that is carrying the name of one of my favorite ships.

According to research by WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, the security authorities are currently dealing with a suspected act of sabotage on the warship "Emden". The Hamburg State Criminal Police Office is said to have taken over the case.

After the publication of the research, the Inspector of the Navy, Jan Christian Kaack, confirmed that saboteurs had even caused targeted damage to warships in Germany in more than one case. At an event in Berlin, Kaack said that there was "destruction, i.e. sabotage, on more than one unit." Appropriate measures had been taken in the shipyards.

According to research by WDR, NDR and SZ, unknown persons are said to have dumped dozens of kilograms of metal shavings into the engine of the ship "Emden". This was discovered during an inspection of the Blohm+Voss shipyard shortly before the first trip in mid-January this year. The ship is said to have been cleaned before it went into operation.

This appears to be part of a larger operation against what should be—but is not—the primary military power in Europe.

Regardless of the recent incident involving the corvette "Emden", German security authorities have been warning for months about an increase in suspected Russian espionage and sabotage acts throughout Europe - especially with reference to military targets. In Germany, for example, an increasing number of unknown drones have recently been observed flying over Bundeswehr properties, industrial facilities and also over the US military base in Ramstein.

Most recently, unmanned aerial vehicles were sighted in January over the Schwesing air base in Schleswig-Holstein, where, among other things, Ukrainian soldiers are trained on Patriot air defense systems. The authorities have so far been unable to prevent or track these drones.

The Inspector of the Navy, Kaack, said that in addition to attempts at sabotage, there were cases of intrusions into naval bases from land and sea and "attempts to initiate contact" with soldiers in uniform on their way home. "Our assessment: They are testing us. They are trying to unsettle our society, both nationally and in the alliance. And they are possibly laying the foundation for later active military activities," said the vice admiral.

From a junior officer in the Cold War to just another O5 (OF4) NATO staff officer a couple of decades later, it was a well-known fact of life that the German national security apparatus, from the highest civilian political levels to the junior military enlisted, was compromised by the Soviet Union/Russia. The Germans tried the best they could to find compromised personnel and blunt Russian penetration, but the Russians were/are relentless and the German state only did the bare minimum. Heck, former Chancellor Schröder and SDP buddy of the present Chancellor became chairman of the board of Russia’s Nord Stream AG sitting cheek and jowl for a former Stasi spy.

So, does it shock me that Russia is testing and doing trollish things? No, not at all. They were trying to assassinate the CEO of Rheinmetall, afterall. Metal shavings and drones are powderpuff.

There are a lot of very good Germans who are serious about being full members of the Western nations standing in support of our view of how our planet should be run, but those Germans are not in power. Until they are, and until something really shocking is revealed about Russian actions in Germany that moves the focus on concern, we can expect that the Russians, even in their weakened state, will continue to shape German defense actions—in open and covert ways—more than they should.