Germany to give fighter jet order to Airbus or Boeing

[Jäger]

1. The Luftwaffe will replace 33 Tranche 1 Eurofighter with 33 latest Tranche 4 (!) Eurofighter.
2. The Luftwaffe has the goal to contribute NATO the promised capabilities: SEAD meaning the unique ECR Tornado role and nuclear strike ability. Therefore the F-18G and E/F in the newest block configuration which is still to be develloped are in consideration. Also the Eurofighter, but these capabilities still have to be developed. Both aircraft act as gap fillers for the future fighter to be in service in 2040 and to be co developed with France. We are waiting for informations, why the F-35 was not selected. But it is clear, that Germany would not have become a partner status in this program and that we would have not been given access to important data. We missed that many years ago...Interesting detail. If the Super Hornet will be selected, they can theoretically operate from french and US carriers....

 

[Kailash Kumar]

F-35 dropped from German fighter competition

George Allison

February 6, 2019

Germany has ruled out the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as an option to replace its Tornado fleet.

German officials have stressed that no decisions have been made with regards to the remaining competitors, the FA-18 and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Dirk Hoke, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Defence and Space, had warned the German government against the purchase of the F-35.

“As soon as Germany becomes an F-35 member nation, cooperation on all combat aircraft issues with France will die,” Hoke said in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag which can be found here.

The local news site says that the Bundeswehr is looking for a successor model for the Tornado fighter-bomber. One candidate was the F-35 but that did not “suit the CEO of the Airbus armaments division”.

According to the German business daily Handelsblatt, the government wants to stick to NATO’s nuclear weapon obligations despite plans to replace the Tornado jets that now fulfill these functions.

The Luftwaffe has about 45 Tornado jets designed to carry American nuclear bombs in the event of a crisis, at a key air base in Büchel, while the country’s other aircraft are incapable of fulfilling this task.

The US-made F-18 has already been certified for these missions.

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/f-35-dropped-from-german-fighter-competition/