Germany gets its first F-35 as Europe’s fighter plans fall apart

FORT WORTH, Texas — Germany received its first F-35 jet on Friday but the collapse of Europe’s flagship next-generation fighter project is forcing Berlin to rethink what will follow the U.S.-built jet.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was in Texas at the Lockheed Martin factory for the ceremony. The delivery of the fighter jet was long-planned, but the death of the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System fighter jet development program earlier this year is fueling calls in Berlin to expand the initial €10 billion order of 35 American jets.

The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II is supposed to solve Germany’s immediate problem: replacing its aging Tornado fighter-bombers and preserving its role in NATO nuclear sharing while Europe developed its own next-generation fighter.

But without the FCAS, Berlin is left without an obvious European successor.

“We want and need to maintain nuclear sharing,” Pistorius said ahead of the handover. The F-35, he argued, is currently “the only aircraft in the world” capable of fulfilling that mission.

Under the NATO nuclear-sharing program, Germany and other select allies have aircraft that can carry U.S. nuclear bombs, although the decision to use them remains with Washington.

The first F-35s will remain in the United States for training, with German pilots and technicians preparing for operations before more jets are sent to Büchel in late 2027. Full operational capability is expected by 2030.

Berlin currently operates around 80 Tornados, and some missions will migrate to the Eurofighter Typhoon. But the collapse of FCAS has opened a longer-term gap in Germany’s plans for its combat-air fleet.

During June’s Berlin Air Show, Pistorius said Berlin is weighing whether to acquire additional F-35s as a “bridge” option after the FCAS failure, to join an existing international sixth-generation program or to develop a national effort headed by Airbus.

German Air Force Chief Lt. Gen. Holger Neumann said at the show that he has asked the defense ministry to procure “fifth-gen-plus platforms beyond 2035,” adding: “I’m not saying the new system has to be ready [in 2035], but we have to pick up there.”

One option is for Germany to boost the number of F-35s in its fleet by buying 15 additional jets.

“The F-35 has a clear mission in nuclear sharing,” said Marie-Christine von Hahn, managing director of Germany’s aerospace and defense industry association BDLI. But she warned that the procurement should not distract policymakers from a larger challenge.

“Europe’s air forces need their own wings,” she said. “In Germany in particular, we must continue to be capable of developing, building, maintaining and upgrading combat aircraft ourselves.”

FCAS troubles

The fighter component of FCAS collapsed due to fights over control between the leading French and German companies involved in the project. Paris and Berlin also clashed over the role of the fighter, with France pushing for a lighter jet able to land on its aircraft carrier while Germany wanted a heavier one for air-superiority roles.

Germany is also looking at the U.K.-Italian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme, although the current members are not keen on expanding the number of partners.

Then there’s the future sixth-generation U.S. F-47 under development by Boeing, which could go into service by the end of the decade. However, U.S. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will sell less capable versions to its allies, undercutting their attractiveness.

While a sixth-generation aircraft remains a long-term goal, for German industry the crucial question is how deeply domestic companies will be integrated into the maintenance and future support structure of the F-35.

Lockheed Martin says that about a quarter of the jet’s components are made in Europe. Germany’s Rheinmetall is making fuselage parts to be supplied to foreign customers.

That makes the F-35 a product of the close defense-industrial ties linking Europe, Canada and the U.S. — ties now being tested by doubts over Washington’s commitment to European defense under Trump.

Pistorius underlined that those links still matter to German defense.

“Whenever we talk about independence,” he said, “we must also recognize that there are mutual dependencies that keep allies close and allow them to benefit from one another.”