Modernisation push: Germany to buy F-35 jets
BERLIN/OSLO: Germany plans to buy up to 35 US-made F-35 fighter jets and 15 Eurofighter jets, a parliamentary source said on Monday, as part of a major push to modernise the armed forces in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The F-35 jets made by Lockheed Martin would help replace Germany’s decades-old Tornado fleet, according to media reports confirmed by the source.
Tornados are the only jets capable of carrying US nuclear bombs stationed in Germany that are a key part of Nato deterrence.
Lockheed’s F-35 stealth jets are considered the most modern combat aircraft in the world, and their unique shape and coating make them harder to detect by enemy radar.
The additional Eurofighter jets Germany plans to purchase, made by a consortium that includes Airbus, would reportedly be used for other operations, including electronic warfare and escort missions.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last month pledged to invest $112 billion in the nation’s chronically underfunded Bundeswehr. The spending boost marks a major reversal for Europe’s top economy, upending its policy of keeping a low military profile in part out of guilt over World War II. Major Nato manoeuvres kick off in Norway
Major military exercises involving 30,000 Nato troops and partner countries kicked off in Norway on Monday as tensions escalate between the West and Russia over the Ukraine war.
Cold Response 2022, planned long before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, aims to test how Norway would manage Allied reinforcements on its soil, in line with Article 5 of Nato’s charter which requires member states to come to the aid of another member state under attack. “It’s a defensive exercise”, said General Yngve Odlo, in charge of Cold Response.