The umbrella organization of defence policy associations adopted a “Position Paper 2023” at its General Assembly on 13 September. In light of current events, the delegates from 21 organizations, which together represent around 250,000 members, discussed the plans to purchase a short and medium-range air defence system, which were recently presented by Minister Klaudia Tanner and Air Chief Brigadier Gerfried Promberger. https://militaeraktuell.at/oebh-uebergibt-ersten-leopard-2-zur-modernisierung-an-knds/ “The war in Ukraine shows that control of one’s own airspace is of the utmost importance for security. In Austria, we have serious deficits in this respect, which are now to be eliminated. We fully support this,” said Brigadier Erich Cibulka, Chairman of the Presidential Conference. “We also have no concerns about neutrality in the procurement of a weapon system that is intended to protect our sovereignty in airspace. The current situation, namely that Austrian airspace cannot be actively defended, is the real problem that we have been criticizing for many years,” added Cibulka.
