Senior British and German military leaders have held talks aimed at strengthening cooperation on logistics and support operations during an official visit to the UK.
Lieutenant General Gerald Funke, Commander of the Bundeswehr Joint Support Command, visited 104 Theatre Sustainment Brigade in South Cerney on 24 March. The visit focused on the shared role both organisations play in enabling military operations, including logistics, medical support, military policing and wider sustainment functions.
The German Joint Support Command oversees around 55,000 personnel and is responsible for a broad range of enabling capabilities within the Bundeswehr. Its UK counterpart, 104 Theatre Sustainment Brigade, delivers similar functions for the British Army, including fuel and ammunition supply, equipment recovery, and port and maritime logistics.
During the visit, personnel discussed how to improve coordination and interoperability between the two forces, particularly in the context of shared operational demands. “It’s very interesting to see and we have discussed future ways to communicate closer, how to improve cohesion, cooperation and interoperability. We’re all facing the same threat,” said Lieutenant General Funke.
The engagement also highlighted the role of the Trinity House Agreement, signed in 2024, which provides a framework for closer defence cooperation between the UK and Germany across areas such as training, logistics and operational planning.
Commander Anja Scheuren, part of the visiting delegation, said the visit provided an opportunity to understand how capabilities are delivered in practice, noting the value of engagement with personnel “on the ground” following earlier briefings at the Ministry of Defence. The visit concluded with an invitation for British units to take part in a German-led exercise in the Baltic states later this year.
Do the Germans have any surplus A400’s they could let us have?
Yes, many.
Sorry to butt in on the thread .. slightly off topic, but still, German did anyone see the comment of the CEO of @RheinmetallAG slagging of the drones that Ukrainians “housewives” were making!?
They got roasted on Twitter and 1 hour ago > THIS 🤣
@RheinmetallAG >
We have the utmost respect for the Ukrainian people’s immense efforts in defending themselves against the Russian attack – now for more than four years. Every single woman and man in is making an immeasurable contribution. It is to Ukraine’s particular credit that it is fighting highly effectively even with limited resources. The innovative strength and the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people are an inspiration to us. We are grateful to be able to support with the resources at our disposal.
The Streitkräftebasis, or Joint Support Command, has a much wider role than 104 Log Brigade, as it overseas not just Corps level enablers for the German Army (I believe their Logistics Battalions are multi-disciplinary too, combining what in the British Army would be REME, and RLC units under a common banner). But beyond that it includes the Feldjaeger, which is the Tri-Service Military Police, the Tri-Service Music Corps, the Pioneer Battalion (basically the equivilent of 12 Force Support Group RE) and the Triservice CBRN defence (28 Regiment RE equivilent).
I did think the SKB was supposed to disolve last year though, and it’s units distributed to their respective branches, but clearly not fully.
Well, we are very good at talking.