A confidential test report has revealed that the Bundeswehr’s new radio system has far more serious faults than previously known. According to the “Welt am Sonntag”, which cites a paper that parliamentarians have been demanding from the Ministry of Defence for weeks, the military rated the technology that was last deployed in November as “insufficient”. The report warns that even in training exercises the system poses grave risks if used at its current stage of development.
The test had to be halted at the end of November because of major errors. The faults were severe enough that training and rehearsal operations already carried a “danger to life and limb”. The system is neither ready for operational use nor for regular deployment, and it remains unclear whether it can achieve operational readiness by 2026.
The problems were particularly acute with basic voice transmission. In situations such as communications between re‑configured combat tanks, signals were not transmitted correctly, and soldiers could not tell whether their messages had been sent. This makes a reliable cease‑fire command impossible, and enemy reporting is also compromised, creating an unacceptable risk in combat.
Other critical functions, such as Friendly Force Tracking, worked only partially. Overall, the speech radio was judged “deficient” and its operational range fell well below the required specifications.
When asked for details, the Ministry of Defence did not comment on the deficiencies or on any possible recent improvements, instead referring to a forthcoming briefing on the project’s progress. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had promised complete transparency for the large IT project “Digitalisierung Landbasierter Operationen” (D‑LBO) – a project that already experienced a failed test in May of last year.
