Federal Defense Minister
Lambrecht wants to modernize the Air Force with US stealth jets
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD)
© Kay Nietfeld / DPA
After years of debate, the federal government decided to purchase the US F-35 stealth jet. With the purchase decision “we are making good progress with the equipment of the Bundeswehr,” said Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD):
The federal government wants to equip the Air Force with the US F-35 stealth jet. The machines from the manufacturer Lockheed Martin are to gradually replace the Tornado fleet introduced more than 40 years ago, announced Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) on Monday in Berlin. With the F-35, the Bundeswehr is getting “the most modern combat aircraft in the world,” said Air Force Inspector Ingo Gerhartz.
The purchase of the fighter jets is the force’s first major procurement project since the Russian attack on Ukraine. Lieutenant General Gerhartz made a connection between the purchase decision and the war in Ukraine: “In my view, there can only be one answer to Putin’s aggression – and that is unity in NATO and credible deterrence,” he said. The purchase of the jets will strengthen the ability “to defend our alliance, if necessary”.
Lambrecht: Jets should also secure Germany’s nuclear participation
The F-35 is difficult to detect by enemy radar due to a special shape and exterior coating. According to Lambrecht, the jet should also secure Germany’s so-called nuclear participation. It is about a NATO deterrent concept in which allies have access to US nuclear bombs and transport them in an emergency. The Air Force should be able to use the F-35 for this in the future.
With the purchase decision “we are making good progress with the equipment for the Bundeswehr,” said Minister Lambrecht. First, 35 F-35 jets should be purchased, according to a classified letter from the ministry to the defense committee of the Bundestag, which is available to the AFP news agency. In addition, 15 new machines of the established type Eurofighter should be purchased; these should be further developed especially for electronic combat.
The letter from the Ministry does not contain any information on the costs and the timetable for the delivery. However, it pointed out that the F-35 system was already “established”: “This reduces the technical, time and financial risks of procurement.”
The unit price of the machines is likely to be well over 100 million euros: the US armed forces had paid the equivalent of around 145 million euros per jet in recent years.
“Possible missions in the context of national and alliance defense”
With the decision in favor of the F-35, the Department of Defense ends years of consideration of options. In the long term, Germany, together with France and Spain, is backing the European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project. However, these aircraft should not be available until 2040. By then, the aging Tornado fleet could not be kept in service.
In its letter to the Bundestag committee, the ministry gives three reasons for the decision in favor of the F-35. Germany can thus maintain its NATO capabilities, “above all the role of nuclear participation, without interruption”. The European project FCAS will be pursued further. In addition, “technical know-how and industrial capacities in Germany and Europe should be preserved”.
Furthermore, the F-35 is a model that “can be asserted in future scenarios,” the ministry wrote – and added: “We always have to keep an eye on possible missions in the context of national and alliance defense, events have shown us that made very clear in the last few weeks.”
Sharp criticism of the purchase decision came from the Left Party. “It’s frightening that the federal government is codifying nuclear participation in NATO with the purchase of the F-35 fighter jets and is fueling a new nuclear arms race,” left-wing foreign expert Sevim Dagdelen told the AFP news agency. “This is a cynical mockery of all cheap explanations for nuclear disarmament.”