Status: 12/04/2022 5:34 p.m
According to media reports, internal documents from the Ministry of Defense show that the procurement of the F-35 fighter jet could become significantly more expensive. There is to be a crisis meeting in the ministry on Monday.
One of the Bundeswehr’s largest procurement projects could become significantly more expensive: the Federal Ministry of Defense apparently sees major risks in the planned procurement of F-35 fighter jets in the USA.
This emerges from a confidential letter to the budget committee of the Bundestag, which is available to the AFP news agency. The ministry estimates the total cost of the deal at almost ten billion euros – and warns of “delays and additional costs” due to extremely complex preparatory work.
According to the news agency, the internal letter is classified as “classified – only for official use”. The weekly newspaper “Bild am Sonntag” first quoted it. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense told AFP that there would be “close coordination” and “clarification of open questions” with parliament. An “intensive risk analysis” is part of all procurement processes and should identify possible problems “at an early stage”.
“Time delays (…) must be expected.”
According to the letter, it is questionable whether the conversion of the Büchel Bundeswehr airfield required for the F-35 can be completed by 2026 as planned. This schedule is “highly ambitious,” it says: “We must therefore expect delays and additional financial requirements before the infrastructure is completed.”
In addition, the security requirements of the USA are “complicated”. This can also lead to delays and additional costs.
Flight operations only with restrictions?
Furthermore, the ministry sees the danger that the approval for flight operations of the F-35 in Germany “is not possible in time” because the required documents “are not available or cannot be made available in the future due to legal requirements”. Flight operations could then “only be started with restrictions,” the draft says.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense points to other factors that could lead to price increases: inflation, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar, and rising production costs. It puts the total cost of the planned purchase of 35 F-35 jets at 9.99 billion euros. The money is to come from the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr.
Crisis meeting on Monday
According to AFP information, there will be a crisis meeting in the Ministry of Defense with the budgets of the government factions on Monday afternoon. The problems with the F-35 procurement are to be discussed, as has become known from parliamentary circles.
On December 14, the committee is then to release a tranche of the costs. The Federal Ministry of Finance had prepared the confidential procurement template for the committee for this purpose, which refers to the considerable risks involved in the project. With the risk warnings, the Ministry of Finance refers to assessments from the Federal Ministry of Defense.
F-35 fighter jet – 35 pieces for 9.99 billion euros?
Image: picture alliance / AA
FDP: Bombers should become a “boss thing”.
In the traffic light coalition, there is growing concern about the impending delays. “The schedule for the successor to the tornado must not be jeopardized,” said FDP budget expert Karsten Klein. He called on Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) to make the matter a “boss matter”. “I expect the minister to emphatically create all the prerequisites for the timely deployment of the F-35.”
There is also dissatisfaction with members of the budget committee in the Bundestag because of the possible risks. The SPD politician Andreas Schwarz, chief reporter on the defense budget committee, told the “Bild am Sonntag”: “It is unacceptable that Parliament is only now learning about the problems.” He expects the ministry to provide comprehensive information on how it wants to get the risks under control. “We’re trying to get rid of responsibility here,” says Schwarz.
CSU recommends Scholz to change the minister
The defense policy spokesman for the Union faction, Florian Hahn (CSU), told the dpa news agency: “The troops and all of Germany only have to be ashamed of this new information.” The question arises whether this is due to inability or intention.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) never identified with the turning point proclaimed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). “My recommendation to the chancellor would be: Change the minister before it’s too late!”
F-35 jets are intended to secure Germany’s nuclear participation
The US manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s stealth jet is considered the most modern combat aircraft in the world. The Bundeswehr wants to replace its aging Tornado fleet with the F-35 machines. Lambrecht announced the purchase a few weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The machines are also intended to ensure so-called nuclear sharing – the Bundeswehr should be able to transport American atomic bombs with them in an emergency.
As recently as 2019, the Ministry of Defense rejected the purchase of the F-35 at a request from Left MP Sevim Dagdelen, citing technical risks that were difficult to calculate. “So the problems had been known for a long time,” said parliamentary circles.