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ROJOEF MANUELNOVEMBER 28, 2025
Berlin has produced a classified 1,200-page wartime playbook that outlines how approximately 800,000 German, US, and NATO troops would move across its territory toward the eastern flank if Russia launched an attack on the alliance.
The document, called Operation Plan Deutschland (OPLAN DEU), marks one of Berlin’s most extensive defense planning efforts since the Cold War.
A team of senior officers at the Julius Leber Barracks in Berlin designed the guide to chart key routes that NATO forces would rely on during a crisis, including ports, rail networks, rivers, and major highways.
Tim Stuchtey of the Potsdam-based think tank Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security, explained the importance of the strategy in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, noting that with the Alps blocking southern routes, allied forces “would have to cross Germany … regardless of where [a conflict] might start.”
National Coordination, Infrastructure Upgrades
The OPLAN DEU blueprint assigns responsibilities across government agencies and the civilian sector, requiring the military, police, hospitals, transport companies, port operators, and rail providers to function as a single system.
To support the initiative, Berlin estimates that about one-fifth of its motorways and more than a quarter of its bridges need renovations, while North Sea and Baltic ports require roughly 15 billion euros ($17.3 billion) in improvements.
“The goal is to prevent war by making it clear to our enemies that if they attack us, they won’t be successful,” said a senior German Armed Forces officer involved in drafting OPLAN DEU.
Threat Sooner Than Expected
German intelligence believes Moscow could rebuild its arsenal from its war with Ukraine and threaten NATO by 2029, but a surge in espionage and infrastructure attacks suggests an earlier timeline is possible.
“If you look at Russia’s current capabilities and combat power, Russia could kick off a small-scale attack against NATO territory,” Lt. Gen. Alexander Sollfrank, responsible for the German military’s large-scale planning and execution, told Reuters in early November.
“The ground forces are suffering losses, but Russia says it aims to boost its total troop numbers to 1.5 million soldiers. And Russia has enough main battle tanks to make a limited attack conceivable as early as tomorrow.”
Original:
https://thedefensepost.com/2025/11/28/germany-nato-playbook-russia
