Successor to Tornados
Federal government wants to procure F-35 stealth jets
03/14/2022, 06:30 am
There is a successor to the Bundeswehr’s aging Tornado fleet: the federal government wants to equip the German Air Force with the US F-35 stealth jet from Lockheed Martin. It is apparently planned to buy up to 35 of the jets
The federal government wants to equip the German Air Force with the US F-35 stealth jet. 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 learned from government circles.
The acquisition of new military aircraft is one of the government’s top military concerns. According to a report, 15 billion euros are to flow into the successor to the Tornados from the special fund for the Bundeswehr announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “The first step today is the successor to the Tornado. Now we need the F-35, the most modern fighter aircraft in the world and used by many of our partners,” said FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann at the end of February.
Like its predecessor, the F-35 is capable of transporting and dropping US nuclear bombs stationed in Germany should the worst come to the worst. According to dpa information, it is planned to buy up to 35 of the stealth jets.