German frigate Bayern off the Lebanese coast. "Bayern" rescued 14 crew members. On 18 July 2011 "Bayern" left Wilhelmshaven to join Operation Atalanta, the anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. She arrived on station on 13 August, with Thomas Jugel taking over command of the taskforce, with "Bayern" as his flagship. "Bayern" was deployed in support of the operation until 6 December, and then returned to Wilhelmshaven, arriving on 22 December 2011. Her next deployment was as flagship of Thorsten Kähler, commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. This lasted until 1 June 2012, after which she took part in exercises, and
Germany–Kurdistan Region relations missiles, 30 rocket launchers, panzerfaust rockets, G-3 and G-36 assault rifles and ammunition. From April to May 2015, five planeloads of military aid was dispatched for Kurdistan Region. In October 2015, Defece Minister von der Leyen stated that 4,700 Kurdish soldiers had been trained. In January 2016, Germany opened a training base in Erbil to train more Kurdish soldiers. In August 2016, the German government mulled to send more military aid to Kurdistan Region, as a spokesperson from the German defense ministry stated that 70 tonnes of weapons had already been sent. The shipment was received by Kurdish authorities in