Confusion in the Ministry of Defense: Planned procurement of F-35 fighter jets causes irritation
Created: 2022-12-05Updated: 2022-12-05, 5:26 p.m
An F-35 fighter jet: one of the Bundeswehr's largest procurement projects is causing a lot of irritation.
© Joe Giddens/dpa
The procurement of F-35 fighter jets planned by the Bundeswehr is causing irritation.
After warnings about risks and additional costs, the Ministry of Defense is now rowing back itself.
Berlin – There are still irritations about the planned procurement of US F-35 fighter jets for the Bundeswehr.
After critical statements from the ranks of the coalition, the Federal Ministry of Defense put its own warnings of possible risks and cost increases into perspective.
These were previously contained in a template for the Bundestag Budget Committee.
The risk factors mentioned in the letter included the necessary conversion of airfields for the F-35, the US seller's high security requirements and possible technical problems with the approval of the fighter jets for flight operations in Germany.
There is also talk of possible cost increases.
The total costs are currently estimated at around ten billion euros.
F-35 procurement creates friction within government
On Monday afternoon, the subject was raised at the Ministry of Defense at a meeting with budget experts from the traffic light factions.
"Even after this meeting, questions about the procurement of the F35 remain unanswered," Greens budget expert Sebastian Schäfer then told the AFP news agency.
He expressed his astonishment that there had been no preliminary checks on the issue of flight permits.
"In addition, the ministry must clarify the unresolved structural infrastructure measures as quickly as possible so that there are no delays in delivery," he continued.
Critical questions to Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had previously also come from the FDP.
"The minister is personally responsible for ensuring that the F-35 schedule is adhered to and that this important project does not get off track financially or organisationally," said FDP budget politician Karsten Klein of the
Bild
newspaper.
He called on Lambrecht to make the necessary expansion of the Büchel airfield in Rhineland-Palatinate and the flight permits a top priority.
The minister must "finally deliver" and "finally speed up the procurement process," Klein also demanded.
Department of Defense not yet “fully in control” of certain factors
The CDU defense politician Henning Otte referred this generally to the use of funds from the 100 billion euro special fund.
So far, no order has been placed, "there is an urgent need for the Federal Ministry of Defense to catch up," he told
Bayerischer Rundfunk
.
"There is currently no problem with the planning," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense on Monday in Berlin with a view to the fighter jets.
It is customary for possible risks to be pointed out in the planning process.
However, this does not mean "at all" that these would also occur.
There are just a few factors "that we don't have fully under control yet," which is normal at the current planning stage.
US fighter jets are capable of nuclear weapons
Luftwaffe Inspector Ingo Gerhartz wrote on Twitter: “Problems with the F-35?
Germany seeks problems where the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Italy and other European nations see none.
And neither do we!
Is the air there different?”
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) confirmed
the decision to purchase the fighter jets in an article entitled “The Global Zeitenwende” for the US magazine
Foreign Affairs .
"Germany maintains its commitment to NATO's nuclear sharing agreements, including through the purchase of dual-purpose F-35 fighter jets," the chancellor wrote in the article.
The planned procurement of the F-35 stealth jets in the USA is one of the Bundeswehr's largest procurement projects.
The Bundeswehr wants to use it to replace its aging Tornado fleet.
Nuclear sharing means that the planes could also carry US nuclear bombs in an emergency.
(AFP, lf)