The German Air Force is being used as a Tornado successor for the so-called nuclear sharing – The German Air Force will receive F-35 jets from Lockheed-Martin as the Tornado successor for the so-called nuclear sharing program, which the traffic light government already committed to when it took office, as well as a future ECR version of the Eurofighter for the NATO special role of electronic warfare and suppression/destruction of enemy air defenses.
This was announced yesterday by the Federal Ministry of Defense and the Air Force Inspector General, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, and is to be understood as “Project Quadriga” to replace the Tranche 1 jets, regardless of the 38 Eurofighters already ordered. In 2018, the then Minister of Defense Urusla von der Leyen had dismissed Air Force Inspector General Karl Müllner immediately before the ILA trade fair, because even then he believed that only the F-35 could be considered for this. Nuclear certifications of other types and the 6th generation would not help him in terms of time with regard to the Tornado successor, Müllner said at the time. It was only on February 27 that Chancellor Olaf Scholz explicitly mentioned the F-35 in his speech on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has already been described as “historic”.
Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz: “There is only one answer to Putin’s aggression: unity within NATO and a credible deterrent. This is precisely why the decision in favor of the F-35 is without alternative. The F-35 is the most modern combat aircraft in the world, and many of our European partners have also opted for this aircraft. It strengthens our ability to work with them to secure NATO airspace and defend the Alliance. With the F-35, we are procuring a 5th generation fighter aircraft that is available on the market. Systems available on the market are exemplary for accelerating the modernization of our armed forces. Together with the further development of the Eurofighter for electronic warfare, we are taking an important step towards preparing the air force and thus the German armed forces for the future.”
The announcement of the German Tornado replacement has Airbus has now paved the way for Airbus to officially launch the development of the Eurofighter Electronic Combat Role (ECR) platform, which was first proposed in 2019. With the official announcement that the future needs of the German Air Force will be met by a Eurofighter with an “electronic combat role” in addition to the F-35A, Berlin has effectively given Airbus DS the green light for its implementation. “The Eurofighter will also be retained for the armed forces and further developed for the electronic combat role,” the Bundeswehr announced. Airbus DS CEO Michael Schöllhorn added: “This is an important decision by the Bundeswehr to replace the Tornado in the electronic warfare variant with new Eurofighter jets. It is a crucial technological development that will strengthen the role of the Eurofighter as the backbone of the German Air Force fighter fleet until 2060.”
However, it should be noted that Airbus (back in 2019) announced an ECR prototype for 2026 at the earliest. Considering the previous “gestation periods” of such major projects and the bureaucracy of the German official side, this special version (see graphics) may not be available in time to replace the Tornado – and certainly at additional cost versus a small number of perhaps only 15 units. https://militaeraktuell.at/lockheed-finnland-entscheidet-sich-fuer-den-f-35/ Airbus DS has nevertheless – just hours later – urged the German government to also confirm the previously announced plan to buy additional Eurofighter combat aircraft as part of the Luftwaffe’s wider Tornado replacement requirements. Michael Schöllhorn said on March 15 that his company “also needs this decision. Most of the 93 Tornados are deployed in the conventional fighter-bomber role and should also be replaced by a Eurofighter Tranche 5 (note: the 38 Tranche 4s ordered a year ago were previously referred to as Tranche 4). 38 units ordered a year ago as a replacement for Tranche 1 which was already ordered a year ago, is referred to as “Project Quadriga”). We need this decision now. This is the key, because the Eurofighter is the technological bridge to the future FCAS in order to be on the same level as our future partners France and Spain,” tweeted Schöllhorn.
We can now look forward to France’s reaction. In the world before the Ukraine crisis Dassault-managers had still been suggesting going it alone with regard to the FCAS in the event of a German F-35 still discussed going it alone had been discussed …
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