Overview
- On Friday Defence Minister Boris Pistorius took delivery in Fort Worth of the first German F-35 while the initial tranche of eight jets will stay in the United States for pilot and technician training.
- Berlin ordered 35 F-35s in 2022 for about €10 billion to replace Tornados and keep Germany’s role in NATO nuclear sharing.
- Germany plans to station F-35s at Büchel from 2027 and has expanded the base upgrade budget to roughly €2 billion to meet U.S. security and certification requirements for storing U.S. nuclear bombs.
- The F-35 offers stealth and advanced sensor fusion but has a record of technical faults, high maintenance costs and low readiness in some operators, and German officials face sovereignty concerns over software, data and remote-control fears.
- German industry has manufacturing roles on the program and the U.S. has approved a possible separate sale of 48 F-35s to Saudi Arabia that now awaits congressional approval, a development with regional and alliance implications.