Federal government plans purchase of F-35 stealth jets - "most modern combat aircraft in the world"
Created: 03/14/2022, 10:55 am
The Air Force is to get new combat aircraft as part of the upgrade.
These are the F-35 stealth jets from the USA.
Munich - In a modernization program worth billions, the federal government wants to equip the Air Force with F-35 stealth jets.
The machines from the manufacturer Lockheed Martin are to be procured as the successor model to the Tornado fleet introduced more than 40 years ago, as the
German Press Agency (dpa)
learned from government circles in Berlin.
The F-35 is considered the most modern combat aircraft in the world and is also purchased for the so-called nuclear participation of Germany, a NATO deterrent concept in which allies have access to US nuclear bombs.
Due to a special shape and outer coating, the machine is difficult for enemy radar to detect.
Modernization of the Bundeswehr: Federal government wants to buy up to 35 stealth jets
According to dpa
information, it is planned
to buy up to 35 of the stealth jets.
The Tornado, which has been used up to now and can only be kept operational with increasing effort, has also been used in the Bundeswehr for electronic air combat - disrupting, suppressing and attacking enemy air defense positions.
According to information from the dpa
, further Eurofighters are to be purchased for this task
- according to the status of the project, 15 pieces.
However, the manufacturer Airbus still has to technically equip these in the next few years, which is considered to be extremely demanding.
They currently have a lot to discuss: Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht are planning to upgrade the Bundeswehr.
© Hannibal Hanschke/afp
Bundeswehr upgrade: F-35 stealth jets certified for nuclear weapons
Previous DoD plans included purchasing the US F-18 aircraft, which had yet to be certified for use with nuclear weapons.
After a conversation between Defense Minister * Christine Lambrecht and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in January (both SPD), a broader test order was issued.
The F-35 was also considered.
It is already certified for nuclear weapons and equipped with limited electronic warfare.
also read
Ukraine conflict: Söder welcomes US soldiers in Nuremberg - and promises a Bavarian gift
US President Joe Biden is sending thousands of soldiers to Europe to strengthen NATO in the Ukraine conflict.
Markus Söder receives 200 of them at Nuremberg Airport.
Ukraine conflict: Söder welcomes US soldiers in Nuremberg - and promises a Bavarian gift
The new Bundeswehr project
It takes more than just a lot of money for a well-fortified armed forces.
But it is also true that deterrence is hardly possible without sufficient weapons and equipment.
The new Bundeswehr project
Earlier concerns of the federal government that the purchase of the F-35 could counteract the joint plans with France to build a European “combat aircraft of the future” (FCAS/ Future Combat Air System) have now receded into the background and, from Berlin’s point of view, seem largely to be the case invalidated.
In the case of the F-35, it was recently pointed out that NATO partners in Europe also use the machine and that "synergy effects" are possible in operation.
New jets for the Bundeswehr: Traffic light coalition was looking for a successor to the Tornado
The traffic light coalition partners had agreed on the procurement of a Tornado successor model in the coalition agreement.
“We will procure a successor system for the Tornado fighter aircraft at the beginning of the 20th legislative period.
We will objectively and conscientiously accompany the procurement and certification process with a view to Germany's nuclear participation," stated the SPD, Greens and FDP.
Officially never confirmed, but a kind of open secret: 20 thermonuclear B61 gravitational bombs of the US armed forces are said to be stored in Büchel in the Eifel, which so far can be latched under German tornadoes.
Soon also in the inventory of the German Air Force?
The federal government wants to buy F-35 stealth jets.
© IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
War in Ukraine: As a reaction, significantly higher spending on own defense
In response to the Ukraine war and the threats by Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin* against the West, Chancellor Scholz had announced a one-off “special fund” of 100 billion euros* and a significant increase in annual defense spending.
In the future, more than two percent of the gross domestic product is to be invested in defense every year.
At the end of February, the Chairwoman of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), demanded: “Today, the Tornado successor should be put on the table as a first step.
Now the F-35 is needed, the most modern combat aircraft in the world and used by many of our partners.” The war in Ukraine clearly shows: “Attacks are carried out from the air and must be answered or prevented accordingly”.
(dpa) * merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA