In a document, the Federal Ministry of Defense expresses concerns about possible “delays and additional costs” for its order of 35 F-35s.
According to a document available to the AFP news agency, the Federal Ministry of Defense has expressed concerns about the planned purchase of American F-35 fighter jets as part of the modernization of its army. Berlin announced in March the purchase of 35 of these Lockheed Martin-made aircraft, along with 15 Eurofighters, to replace part of its aging fleet of Tornado fighters.
Berlin then explained a decision in connection with the war in Ukraine and said that in the long term it would continue to rely on the European combat aircraft (SCAF). However, the Ministry of Defense expresses concerns about possible “delays and additional costs” for this order of almost ten billion euros, according to a secret letter to the parliamentary budget committee.
According to the letter, the risk factors relate to the expansion of the airfield required to accommodate the F-35, as well as safety requirements and possible problems with the approval of flight operations in Germany. A Defense Ministry spokesman said there would be “close cooperation” with Parliament and “clarification” on these issues. An emergency meeting is scheduled for Monday at the Defense Ministry, which will be attended by members of the budget committees of the three-party coalition government, parliamentary sources said.
“Extremely ambitious” schedule
In principle, the Commission must approve a first tranche of funding for the project on December 14th. The document, which AFP read, was prepared for the commission by the Treasury Department based on assessments by the Department of Defense. Accordingly, there are doubts about the completion by 2026 and the start of the delivery of the combat aircraft and the necessary work at the Büchel air base, which is to accommodate them.
The current schedule is “extremely ambitious,” he explains. In addition, the security requirements imposed by the United States are complex, which could cause additional delays and costs, the document adds. In addition, there is a risk that approvals for F-35 flight operations in Germany would not be granted in good time due to a lack of the necessary documents, he said. This would mean that flights could only be carried out to a limited extent.
The document lists other factors that could cause additional costs, such as inflation, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro, or rising production costs. The cost of these planes will have to be funded from a special €100 billion that Germany announced at the end of February after the Russian invasion of Ukraine to modernize its army.
The question of replacing the tornado of the 1980s and 1990s has occupied German politics for a long time. The country has a fleet of 93 copies, some in disrepair. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said last week that he wanted to conclude the contract for the F-35, which is currently considered the most powerful fighter jet, by the end of the current year.