Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, Inspector of the German Navy, warned that Russia is presenting an escalating maritime threat. In an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” he described the danger as real and far from static.
The Russian armed forces are growing both in manpower and in the capabilities that are being tested daily on the front of the Ukraine war. In the Baltic Sea, aggression has increased over the last two years. Observers now report more frequent low‑level flights by Russian aircraft over NATO ships, and more confrontational approaches. Kaack said this creates the risk of accidental escalation. To counter it, German commanders are being trained specifically for such scenarios, with clear rules of engagement that are regularly reheated in military war‑games.
On a more positive note, Kaack praised the NATO mission “Baltic Sentry”, launched a year ago to protect pipelines and submarine cables in the Baltic. Repeated sabotage incidents have been reported-shells, allegedly linked to Russia, supposedly drifted from anchor points and damaged the cables. Kaack noted that the response time to suspicious events has dropped from 17 hours to about one hour, thanks to the mission.
Kaack identified the most pressing problem as a shortage of personnel in the naval forces. “The biggest deficit is that we don’t have enough people” he told the “SZ”. Although there has been a modest increase in numbers over recent years, it is still insufficient. He is pushing the new voluntary military service to help fill the gap, saying that 2026 will be “the year of growth, a year of expansion”.
Material procurement has also hit snags. The new F126 frigate program, a key €10 billion defence project for Germany, is now expected to delay the first ship’s delivery from 2028 to at least 2031. As an interim solution, the navy plans to acquire MEKO A200 frigates quickly. Kaack stressed that the priority is to have operational units available without delay. “I need steel in the water to fulfill my mission” he said.
