The Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

The current geostrategic situation in the Baltic provides the West with a decisive advantage, since Denmark and the Federal Republic of Germany control the entrance to the Baltic Sea. In essence, defending the Baltic Sea entrance means defending the Great Belt and the eyelet straits. Thus, the primary tasks of the defenders are to conduct combat operations to protect the straits and to secure and defend the mainland territories. To a large extent, these tasks have been assigned to the Danish Navy, which is not strong enough to fulfill these tasks and thus relies on West Germany. Neither West Germany nor Denmark can afford to modernize at an equal pace. The imbalance is particularly critical in the areas of missile development, command and control and mine warfare. Even when one considers the combined naval strength of West Germany's European Allies, one must conclude that only the US Navy is capable of wresting naval superiority from the Soviets in the Baltic.