Lockheed Martin Rolls Out First German F-35A Fighter

Lockheed Martin rolled out the inaugural F-35A Lightning II fighter jet destined for the German air force at the end of last week. The aircraft is the first of 35 nuclear-capable units destined to replace the Luftwaffe's ageing Panavia Tornado under an $8.8 billion deal formalized in December 2022.

During a handover ceremony on September 18 at the U.S. manufacturer’s Fort Worth, Texas facility, Lockheed Martin confirmed that the first eight German F-35s will be delivered to Ebbing Air National Guard Base for pilot training later this year. The first unit is set to arrive in-country in late 2027.

Germany’s acquisition of the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A variant “provides a decisive key capability, for the German air force and for the whole of NATO,” German defense minister Boris Pistorius stated. “Together with 19 other nations, we are putting transatlantic cooperation into practice, with common standards, technology and procedures.” To date, 20 nations, including 13 in Europe, have selected the F-35.

Despite initially ruling the F-35 out in 2019 as a successor to the Tornado fighter-bomber—while potentially looking to further upgrade the existing Eurofighter—the German government reversed this decision in 2022. Crucially, the acquisition of the F-35A will allow Germany to retain its participation in NATO’s nuclear role, something the Tornado is also certified for. Under NATO’s nuclear weapons-sharing agreement, Germany hosts U.S. B61 nuclear bombs at Buchel Air Base. 

In March 2022, the German defense minitary announced the intention to purchase the F-35 “to ensure the continued fulfilment of the nuclear sharing mission,” with the goal to replace the Tornado by 2030. According to the government, the platform will “seamlessly assume the nuclear sharing tole previously assigned to the Tornado fighter-bomber … until the latter’s decommissioning” around the end of the decade. 

At the time, the then German defense minister Christine Lambrecht added that “the F-35 offers unique cooperation potential with our NATO allies and other partners in Europe,” adding that the Eurofighter Typhoon would also remain in service and be further developed for the electronic warfare role. This, she argued, “ensures that important key technology remains in Germany and Austria.”