NATO is planning to build a pipeline system from Germany to Poland and the Czech Republic to ensure a rapid supply of jet fuel for fighter aircraft in the event of a war with Russia, weekly German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
The existing Cold War-era pipeline system of the military alliance currently ends in western Germany.
Der Spiegel cited an internal memo from the Bundeswehr - Germany’s armed forces - as stating that there are “significant problems in the sustainable fuel supply for forces that would need to be deployed to the eastern border in case of emergency”.
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Imagine that pipeline explosion
If we are talking JP-8 which is kerosene based fuel it’s questionable if there even would be an explosion. Did you know fuel storage is used in some tanks as an additional protection against cumulative ammunition?
Like the genius design of the BMP-1 and 2 that had fuel tanks inside the doors of the troop compartment.
Jet fuel is like a diesel, not typical gas.
But the idea is still questionable.
In case of a war, airports, depots, oil rafinery, and pipelines are the first target.
There is nothing questionable about the idea, in case of war you need to get the fuel to the airfields from which your air force operates. If you can use pipeline from the refineries far from the frontlines for at least a part of the distance you are saving yourself fuel tanker capacity for the last stretch from the pipeline terminal to the airfield. Not to mention saving the tanker fuel and road congestion.
If this is questionable, what alternative do you suggest?
Build as many as possible underground tanks NOW. Distribute them geographically.
Fill it and have surface-to-air missiles ready.
Basements converted to fuel tanks. And barrels in basements. Supplied via small flexible garden hoses to the main basement tank in the area, from which there’s a bigger hose/pipe.
Decentralized system, I like the idea.
Put the biggest tank under the orphanage.
As long as the pipeline is made of steel, nothing can happen. /s