German military asked to secure transport of 10 million face masks

The Berlin city government has asked the German military for assistance in securing the transport of surgical masks and other protective medical clothing after conflicting reports about the mysterious disappearance of 200,000 face masks Berlin had bought for its police department.

A spokesman for the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, confirmed a request for the military help had been made and was being studied after Dilek Kalayci, the city’s minister for health, said on Sunday the city urgently needed its assistance in airlifting medical supplies to Germany’s largest city for the battle against the coronavirus crisis.

Another senior Berlin city government official, Interior Minister Andreas Geisel, had criticised the United States on Friday, saying that 200,000 FFP2 masks made by American firm 3M in China had been “confiscated” at Bangkok’s airport with “wild west methods”.

The largest plane in the world arrived in Germany on Monday (27 April 2020) from China bringing urgent medical supplies as part of efforts to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The Antonov-225 cargo plane which carried 10,000,000 protective face masks arrived at Leipzig/Halle airport on Monday morning and was welcomed by German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.  The masks were procured by the German government.

Today’s flight was made possible by the NATO-supported Strategic Airlift International Solution – or SALIS - which provides countries participating in the programme with access to Antonov heavy transport aircraft.  A further two flights with an additional 14,900,000 protective face masks are arriving in Germany via SALIS-contracted Antonov aircraft from China.

The sole Antonov AN-225 aircraft was built in the 1980s to transport space shuttles and can carry up to 250 tons of cargo. The plane's smaller version, the AN124 has already moved vital supplies needed during the pandemic to several NATO countries, including the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Slovenia.

Nine NATO Allies – Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia – participate in the SALIS programme which is managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. The aircraft is operated by Antonov Logistics SALIS from Leipzig/Halle airport.