Germany will buy 35 U.S. F-35 fighter jets to replace its ageing Tornado fleet.
“After looking thoroughly into all available options, I decided to initiate the purchase of F-35 aircraft as replacement for the Tornado in the role of nuclear sharing,” Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement.
German Air Force has been flying the Tornado since the 1980s, and Berlin is planning to phase it out between 2025 and 2030. Tornado are the only German aircraft capable of carrying nuclear bombs.
As a replacement, the F-35 offers unique opportunities for cooperation with NATO allies over the world and other European partners, many other nations have ordered the stealth jet built by Lockheed Martin: in Europe Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland.
In 2020, Germany’s Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer stated that Berlin plans to buy 30 American-made F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and 15 EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
In the meantime, the government and world scenarios have changed, with the Russian-Ukrainian crisis that has accelerated the need to equip itself with a state-of-the-art weapon system.