The Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft (german: Wehrtechnische Dienststelle für Luftfahrzeuge – Musterprüfwesen für Luftfahrtgerät der Bundeswehr) or (german: Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61 (''WTD 61'')) is one of several testing centres of the

German Armed Forces The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

. Its tasks are the testing and evaluating of

military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are ...

and aerial weapon systems. The centre is also responsible for

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

s and

inspection An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. ...

s of modifications made on aircraft already in service with the German Armed Forces. The Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft is not integrated into the command structure of the military branches of the German Armed Forces but is a branch of

Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (''Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr''; ''BAAINBw'') is a German government agency for equipping the German armed fo ...

(''Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr'' (''BAAINBw'')) which is directly subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Defence. Founded in 1957, the centre is based at Manching Air Base. The unit has a strength of about 650 personnel, 50 of which are members of the armed forces, the rest are civilian.

Tasks

The responsibility of the Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft is to ensure that only safe, effective and efficient weapon systems are introduced into service with the German Armed Forces and to evaluate if the systems tested fulfil the requirements expected. The centre also carries out trials on and evaluations of weapon systems which are not planned to become part of the German Armed Forces inventory. Notably, this happened after the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990, when a large variety of former

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

aircraft from the

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) a ...

became available. The specific tasks of Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft are defined as: * Processing of research and technology proposals * Testing and evaluation * Sample inspection and approval * Technical processing and consultancy of

project A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

and usage management * Operating of Manching Air Base including its own air space * Operating of

measuring instruments A measuring instrument is a device to measure a physical quantity. In the physical sciences, quality assurance, and engineering, measurement is the activity of obtaining and comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. Establ ...

and installations including data analysis * Operating of instrumented test carriers accompanied by test crews and flight trial engineers * Basic and advanced training

Structure

The Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft has a number of subdivisions. Each subdivision is assigned a specialist task. Within each subdivision there are further specialised departments. * Staff department *

Occupational health and safety Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...

practitioner * Prototype and flight approval office * Technical operations service division * Prototype inspection division *

Flight test Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...

ing division * Specialised technical department overall systems and engines * Specialised technical department mission systems and

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...

* Administrative services unit

History

As the earlier ''Erprobungsstelle Rechlin'' central military aviation test facility of the defunct Third Reich was well inside

borders after 1945, following the foundation of the modern German Armed Forces (''Bundeswehr'') in November 1955, the need for a new institution to test military aircraft became apparent. In 1957 the Testing Centre for Military Aerial Equipment (''Erprobungsstelle für militärisches Luftgerät'') was founded, the predecessor of the Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft. The centre was based at

Oberpfaffenhofen Airfield Oberpfaffenhofen is a village that is part of the municipality of Weßling in the district of Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. It is located about from the city center of Munich. Village The village is home to the Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and a ...

. Initially, the tasks of this new centre were to create the structure and procedures for the testing centre. Once this was completed, the centre was operational and began the testing and evaluation procedure of aerial military equipment selected for possible procurement by the German Armed Forces. Parts of the testing centre were relocated to Manching Air Base in 1967. The fact that Manching Air Base was also used by Reconnaissance Wing 51 at that time, restricted the testing of new aircraft. Consequently, in 1968, a new airfield was selected,

Giebelstadt Airport Giebelstadt Airport is a general aviation airport located in Germany, southwest of Giebelstadt in Bavaria. The airport is the only public-use airfield in the Würzburg region. It offers private aircraft and charter operations. It was known as ...

, to house the units previously based at Manching Air Base. In 1969, all units of the testing centre were concentrated at Manching Air Base. In 1987, the centre was renamed ''Wehrtechnische Dienststelle für Luftfahrzeuge – Musterprüfwesen für Luftfahrtgerät der Bundeswehr'' (''Wehrtechnische Dienstelle 61'' (''WTD 61'')). Eurofighter wtd61

Current projects

Amongst other projects, the Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft is currently engaged in testing, evaluating and developing the following systems: *

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

Multirole combat aircraft A multirole combat aircraft (MRCA) is a combat aircraft intended to perform different roles in combat. These roles can include air to air combat, air support, aerial bombing, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and suppression of air defen ...

Eurocopter Tiger The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective helic ...

attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament they ...

Airbus A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capab ...

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply ...

* European Technology Acquisition Programm (ETAP), technology programme for the development of a future

fighter jet Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

; WTD 61 is responsible for the engine *

NHIndustries NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...

, multirole

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

* Integrated Helmet System (IHS) for

pilots on NH90 and Tiger *

Eurojet EJ200 The Eurojet EJ200 is a military low-bypass turbofan used as the powerplant of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The engine is largely based on the Rolls-Royce XG-40 technology demonstrator, which was developed in the 1980s. The EJ200 is built by the ...

turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...

used in Eurofighter Typhoon *

MTR MTR390 The MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce MTR390 is a turboshaft developed for light helicopter applications by MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce (MTR). The engine is designed to power helicopters in the weight range of 5-7 tonnes in both single and twin engine confi ...

turboshaft A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust ...

used in Eurocopter Tiger *

Unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...

s, research and development of reconnaissance drones, attack drones and

target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operational ...

s *

Airbus A310 MRTT The Airbus A310 MRTT Multi-Role Tanker Transport is a military air-to-air refuelling, or in-flight refuelling tanker transport aircraft, capable of operating multi-role missions. The A310 MRTT tanker aircraft is a subsequent development from ...

aerial refuelling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

tanker aircraft

References

External links

Official website (''in German'')
{{coord, 48, 42, 09, N, 11, 32, 01, E, region:DE_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Military units and formations established in 1957 Bundeswehr