Germany does not plan to purchase additional F-35 fighters - Ministry of Defense

Germany does not plan to purchase additional F-35 fighter jets, a representative of the German Ministry of Defense said on Friday, refuting Politico's report about plans to increase the fleet to 50 units, writes UNN with reference to Reuters.

Details

Currently, Germany has ordered 35 American fighter jets to replace 85 outdated Tornado fighters, which will be decommissioned.

"Currently, the Ministry of Defense does not plan to purchase additional F-35s in addition to the 35 F-35s already agreed upon in the contract," a representative of the German Ministry of Defense said at a regular press conference.

A military source told Reuters that the figure of 15 additional F-35 fighters was considered earlier, but it had to be adjusted after new NATO targets for armament and troop numbers.

The new targets suggest that the initial figure was insufficient, and the actual number of additional F-35s needed may ultimately be higher, although the source did not confirm this information.

Addition

Politico's report came amid tensions between Germany and France over the joint Franco-German FCAS fighter partnership after a report published earlier this week that France now wants 80% participation in the joint work.

This requirement could lead to a disruption of the agreed division of tasks and possibly stop the project's transition to the next phase, an industry source said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that disagreements remain regarding the configuration of the FCAS project, which has been accompanied by delays and internal disputes over joint work and intellectual property rights.