Germany Gets U.S. Nod to Buy 35 F-35 Jets, Munitions for $8.4B

Germany could soon place an order for 35 F-35 combat jets, engines to power the aircraft as well as munitions for an estimated $8.4 billion.

In mid-March, Germany confirmed plans to buy F-35s. "After looking thoroughly into all available options, I decided to initiate the purchase of F-35 aircraft as replacement for the Tornado in the role of nuclear sharing," Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement.

The Tornado is the only German fighter capable of carrying U.S. nuclear bombs, which are stored in the country, in case of a conflict. Tornados are old- the German Air force has been flying them since the 1980s, and Berlin is planning to phase it out between 2025 and 2030.

According to reports, Germany also wants to buy 15 Eurofighter jets equipped for electronic warfare.

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department greenlit the sale to Berlin. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

This covers 35 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Take Off and Landing aircraft; 37 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines; 105 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM); 4 AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM Guidance Sections; 75 AGM-158B/B2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles-Extended Range (JASSM-ER); 2 AGM-158 Inert JASSMs with Test Instrumentation Kits (TIK); 2 AGM-158 JASSM Separation Test Vehicles (STV); 344 GBU-53 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB-II); 3 GBU-53 SDB-II Guided Test Vehicles (GTV); 8 GBU-53 SDB-II Captive Carry Reliability Trainers (CCRT); 162 BLU-109 2000LB Hardened Penetrator Bombs for GBU-31; 264 MK-82 500LB General Purpose (GP) Bombs for GBU-54; 6 MK-82 Inert Filled GP Bombs; 30 BLU-109 Inert 2000LB Hardened Penetrator Bombs; 180 KMU-557 Joint Direct-Attack Munition (JDAM) Tail Kits for GBU-31; 246 KMU-572 JDAM Tail Kits for GBU-54; 75 AIM-9X Block II+ Tactical Sidewinder Missiles; 30 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); 15 Tactical AIM-9X Block II+ Sidewinder Guidance Control Units; 5 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder CATM Guidance Units; and related equipment and support.

The new F-35s will replace Germany’s retiring Tornado aircraft fleet.

The principal contractors will be Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, Boeing and Raytheon.