Germany plans to purchase an additional 15 modern F-35 fighter jets from the US to strengthen its defense capabilities and increase its nuclear deterrence capabilities, Spiegel reported, citing the German Ministry of Defense.
According to the source, a new procurement plan is being prepared at the initiative of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, and this plan has been submitted to the Bundestag's budget committee. If the project is implemented, the total cost will be approximately 2.5 billion euros. The acquisition will be carried out within the framework of a contract with Lockheed Martin Corporation.
For reference, the German government had previously ordered 35 F-35 fighters. The first batch of these aircraft is expected to be delivered to the German Armed Forces in 2027. The new F-35s will gradually replace the outdated Tornado fighters in the country.
The main task of the tornadoes is the transportation of US nuclear warheads located on German territory and the fulfillment of the task of nuclear deterrence within NATO.
According to Spiegel, further expansion of Germany's military aviation fleet will be necessary to meet NATO's new requirements. Currently, the country has also ordered 20 Eurofighter aircraft, and in the future, another airbase is expected to be built for the deployment of fifth-generation fighters.
At the same time, the renovation of the Buchell airbase, where Tornado fighter jets and US nuclear weapons are currently located, is proceeding much more complexly than planned. It is reported that modernization costs exceeded the initially planned 700 million euros to two billion euros.
As a reminder, it was recently reported that Indonesia intends to purchase 42 Chengdu J-10C fighter jets from China as part of its defense system upgrade.
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