Germany to purchase fighter jets from US amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
BERLIN — Germany will purchase F-35 fighter jets manufactured within the U.S. in an effort to get its navy again in control and guarantee means to honor its NATO commitments, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“It was necessary that the answer be discovered rapidly, which is why we determined, after cautious consideration of all of the choices on the desk, to provoke the procurement of F-35 aircrafts for the duty of nuclear sharing,” German Protection Minister Christine Lambrecht mentioned in Berlin on Monday.
The minister, who didn’t specify what number of jets Germany would purchase, added that the Future Fight Air System (FCAS) it has been creating with France and Spain would even be continued.
“We’re securing a robust German position sooner or later FCAS system, as a result of … it stays our intention to step by step substitute the Eurofighter with the subsequent technology fighter FCAS from 2040 onward and to comprehend the tri-national FCAS program for instance of European cohesion,” she mentioned.
In response to earlier stories in German media concerning the F-35s, there have been fears in Berlin that the American jets can be at odds with FCAS and due to this fact irritate Paris, the place French President Emmanuel Macron has for years advocated Europe’s so-called strategic autonomy.
However Lambrecht mentioned she reassured her French counterpart Florence Parly already final week, including that “it is extremely necessary to us that we proceed our cooperation on this space.”
Talking alongside Lambrecht, the inspector basic of the German Air Pressure, Ingo Gerhartz, mentioned that contemplating Russian President Vladimir Putin’s conflict towards Ukraine, there was no different possibility however to purchase F-35, which he referred to as “probably the most fashionable fight plane on this planet.”
Gerhartz added that the F-35’s availability in the marketplace was an necessary facet as a result of Germany is dashing to modernize its armed forces after years of neglect and failing to fulfill the NATO protection spending goal of two % of GDP.
