German Defence Ministry Set to Aquire Indigenous Eurofighter Typhoon Over U.S. Built Alternatives to Strengthen Domestic Defence Industries

The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) is set to replace its ageing Tornado jets from 2025 and has long been considering viable replacements. With the country effectively restricted due to political considerations to aquiring Western fighters only, the Defence Ministry still has a variety of choices for its next generation platform. As well acquiring more units of the domestically manufactured Eurofighter Typhoon, a fourth generation multirole platform which currently makes up the mainstay of the Air Force's combat capabilities, the country could also potentially invest in the U.S. made F-15E heavy strike fighter, F-35 fifth generation light fighters or advanced variants of the F-18E Super Hornet. The Defence Ministry has however indicated that rather than diversifying its fleet, it considers the Eurofighter Typhoon the leading candidate to replace its Tornado jets. With these fighters already fielded in considerable numbers, this decision would restrict the Air Force to relying on a single fighter design for combat - a potentially risky decision particularly considering the Eurofighter's lack of combat testing relative to U.S. made platforms such as the F-15.

While Germany's Air Force chief Georg Muellner has expressed a strong preference for acquiring the F-35A stealth fighter to modernise the service's capabilities, the Defence Ministry as a whole appears to prefer the Eurofighter, despite its less modern design, lack of stealth capabilities and higher cost. According to Deputy Defense Minister Ralf Brauksiepe, the ministry favours the Eurofighter and considers the F-35, F-15E and F-18E only as secondary options. The reasons for this appear to be largely political and economic, rather than being based on the platforms' actual capabilities. As Minister Brauksiepe noted: "A possible purchase of the Eurofighter would ensure the retention of military aircraft expertise in Germany and Europe, and value creation in our own country... The weapons system has already been introduced to the Bundeswehr (armed forces) and is being successfully used." With the tender to replace the sizeable Tornado fleet set to cost approximately $10 billon, the economic benefits for Germany remain considerable should it produce the fighters it requires domestically - though the Air Force may well need to sacrifice its combat capabilities to do so. Ultimately even if Germany does acquire the Eurofighter for its Air Force, it will still potentially require U.S. made air to air missiles to operate them effectively for beyond visual range air to air combat, which are compatible with the European fighter, as the U.S. is the only Western producer of air to air missiles with ranges exceeding 100km.