Alarm in the air! Wittmund Eurofighter hunt mysterious balloon

On January 8, 2023, the Wittmund alarm rotting was first used for the first sharp use of the Wittmund alarm. Two Eurofighter of the Richthofen squadron from Laage were raised to look for an unknown flight object in northwest German airspace. This measure was triggered by a warning from the Netherlands after the flight object was discovered via Papenburg. It was a black balloon with a diameter of about 50 centimeters, which, according to press officer Rolf Müller, was not a threat.

The Eurofighter returned to the Laage airfield after use, while renovation work took place. The alarm of the Wittmund alarm rotted began with a message from the Combined Air Operations Center in Uedem, which the Dutch authorities informed. The balloon had entered the Dutch airspace via the island of Texel, whereupon the Dutch alarm rotting also went up, but was unable to clearly identify the object. An indication of the possible origin of the object indicated a small plane or a drone. The identification of a hardly moving object from the perspective of the rapidly flying jets was difficult.

Function of the alarm rotting and safety precautions

The alarm rotting usually consists of two fighter jets that are used to monitor airspace. Since the police have no armed fighter jets available, the Bundeswehr Air Force provides the alarm rotting. The Richthofen squadron in Wittmund is responsible for northern Germany and becomes active as soon as not identified aircraft approach German airspace, as in another report by