Germany: Approaching the F-35 market from the USA

In an effort to renew its fighter jet fleet, the Germany reportedly closed to purchase decision F-35 from the USAmanufactured by Lockheed Martin.

His goal Berlin is to replace the obsolete Tornado, which can carry nuclear weapons, reports the Reuters news agency, citing a source close to the German Ministry of Defense. However, no final decision has been made yet

A second source close to the German military said the possibility of acquiring the F-35 was “back on the table”, but did not expect a decision to be made soon.

“There have been recent attempts to inform Germany of how a possible F-35 purchase would proceed,” a third source involved in the process told Reuters.

His representative State Departmentwhen asked about it, limited himself to saying that he could not make any public comment on potential arms sales without having been officially informed. Congress and referred to the German Government on matters of equipment procurement.

Solz’s plan

THE Germany must replace the obsolete fleet of aircraft Tornadounder its agreement NATO nuclear sharing (nuclear sharing agreement, part of the so-called “nuclear deterrence” doctrine), something the chancellor has committed to Olaf Solts.

The Tornado is the only German aircraft capable of carrying US nuclear weapons stored in Germany in case of conflict. The German Air Force has been using it since the 1980s Berlin plans to withdraw it from service between 2025 and 2030.

The new coalition government in Germany has assured that it will purchase a replacement aircraft at the beginning of its four-year term. Without this move, the Berlin will withdraw from the nuclear weapons sharing agreement when the latter is withdrawn Tornadoaround 2030.

A source in the German Ministry of Defense stated that Solts is expected to discuss the issue during his trip to Washington the upcoming week.

It is not clear how many F-35 could attempt to buy the Germany. The former Minister of Defense, Crump-Karenbauerplanned the purchase of 45 aircraft F-18However, these were intended to replace both aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons and those used for electronic warfare.

Source: News Beast

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