Airbus acquired classified documents from Germany's armed forces concerning two military procurement programs. The aerospace giant said it is "fully cooperating" with an investigation into how employees got the files.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A.I. Bänsch
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European aerospace giant Airbus announced late Wednesday that it had informed authorities in Munich about potential wrongdoing in two bids for German defense procurement contracts.
The company said it "Self-declared to German authorities potential wrongdoings by several employees with respect to certain customer documents relating to two future German procurement projects in the program line Communications, Intelligence and Security."
A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office told the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung that several Airbus employees were under investigation. Airbus fired roughly 20 employees on Tuesday, reported German daily Bild.
"The company is fully cooperating with relevant authorities to resolve the matter," Airbus said in a statement.
The German Defense Ministry said it was aware of the case and that disciplinary action was taken against a member of the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces.
Reports suggest that one of the procurement contracts may have dealt with a communication systemImage: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Gateau
Many setbacks for Bundeswehr
It is unclear how Airbus employees gained possession of the classified Bundeswehr documents and whether they were used to strengthen the company's bids on two military procurement contracts. Such action would be against acquisition rules and likely unlawful.
Some politicians have called for major boosts to defense spending, saying the Bundeswehr needs to modernize its arsenal of aging military hardware to prevent such incidents.
Since West Germany's accession to NATO, Berlin has supported numerous operations involving the trans-Atlantic alliance. Since 1990, Germany's Bundeswehr has been deployed on "out of area" missions as well.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hanschke
Germany's role in NATO
West Germany officially joined the trans-Atlantic alliance in 1955. However, it wasn't until after reunification in 1990 that the German government considered "out of area" missions led by NATO. From peacekeeping to deterrence, Germany's Bundeswehr has since been deployed in several countries across the globe in defense of its allies.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hanschke
Bosnia: Germany's first NATO mission
In 1995, Germany participated in its first "out of area" NATO mission as part of a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the deployment, German soldiers joined other NATO member forces to provide security in the wake of the Bosnian War. The peacekeeping mission included more than 60,000 troops from NATO's member states and partners.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/H. Delic
Keeping the peace in Kosovo
Since the beginning of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, some 8,500 German soldiers have been deployed in the young country. In 1999, NATO launched an air assault against Serbian forces accused of carrying out a brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists and their civilian supporters. Approximately 550 Bundeswehr troops are still stationed in Kosovo.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/V.Xhemaj
Patrolling the Aegean Sea
In 2016, Germany deployed its combat support ship "Bonn" to lead a NATO mission backed by the EU in the Aegean Sea. The mission included conducting "reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of illegal crossings" in Greek and Turkish territorial waters at the height of the migration crisis. Germany, Greece and Turkey had requested assistance from the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/M.Schreiber
Nearly two decades in Afghanistan
In 2003, Germany's parliament voted to send Bundeswehr troops to Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Germany became the third-largest contributor of troops and led the Regional Command North. More than 50 German troops were killed during the mission. Germany withdrew the last of its troops in June 2021 as part of the US-led exit from Afghanistan.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Niedringhaus
German tanks in Lithuania
Forming part of NATO's "enhanced forward presence" in the Baltic states, 450 Bundeswehr soldiers have been deployed to Lithuania since 2017. The battalion-size battlegroups there are led by Germany, Canada, the UK and US to reinforce collective defense on the alliance's eastern flank. It forms the "biggest reinforcement of Alliance collective defense in a generation," according to NATO.
