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Germany asks U.S. for classified briefing on Lockheed's F-35 fighter

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The German Air Force this month sent the U.S. military a written request for classified data on the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet as it gears up to replace its current fleet of fighter jets from 2025 to 2035.

The letter, sent by the Air Force's planning command and seen by Reuters, makes clear that the German government has not yet authorized a procurement program and is not committed to any particular aircraft to replace its current warplanes.

It said the defense ministry would carry out "an in-depth evaluation of market available solutions, including the F-35, later this year," with a formal "letter of request" to be issued in coming months.

Germany's interest in the F-35 - the Pentagon's most advanced warplane and its costliest procurement program - may surprise some given that it is part of the four-nation consortium that developed the fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoon, which continues to compete for new orders.

The Eurofighter is built by Airbus (AIR.PA) as well as Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.L) and Leonardo (LDOF.MI) of Italy.

Germany will need to replace its current fleet of fourth-generation warplanes - Tornadoes in use since 1981 and Eurofighters - between 2025 and 2035. The F-35 is considered a fifth-generation fighter given stealth capabilities that allow it to evade enemy radars.

Berlin's letter also comes amid growing tensions between the West and Russia over Moscow's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, with NATO officials saying that Russian naval activity now exceeds levels seen even during the Cold War.

Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and Italy - key NATO allies of Germany - are already buying the F-35 fighter jet to replace their current aircraft, and other European countries such as Switzerland, Belgium and Finland are also looking at purchasing the fifth-generation warplane.

Germany's gesture may be aimed at strengthening its hand in negotiations with its European partners over the scale and timing of development of a next generation of European fighters. Any moves to buy a U.S. built warplane could run into political resistance in Germany, which has strong labor unions.

But military sources say buying the F-35 could make sense for Germany given steady declines in the cost of the U.S. jets, and technical challenges with the Eurofighter.

EIGHT-HOUR BRIEFING

In the letter, the Air Force said a small team of air force officers was gathering data to prepare for a detailed analysis of alternatives for a new warplane.

The group was working closely with the ministry's "Task Force Future Air Combat System," which aims to make a recommendation for a political decision in mid-2018, the letter said.

"In order to understand (the) F-35's cutting-edge technologies, the German Air Force is requesting a classified brief of the F-35's capabilities in general and especially concerning sensor suites, information management and operational capabilities," the letter said.

The letter said a video conference suggested by U.S. officials in Bonn would help speed up the process.

A source familiar with U.S. weapons programs said the classified briefing requested by Germany would likely last around eight hours.

Since Germany is not part of the international consortium that funded development of the stealthy new fighter, the request for classified information must first be approved by the U.S. government, but U.S. officials said they did not expect any problems securing the needed marketing license.

The Pentagon's F-35 program office said it had received the letter and was "working to support the German Air Force request."

Lockheed referred questions to the State Department, which oversees foreign military sales, and the Pentagon. Spokesman Michael Rein said it would be inappropriate for Lockheed to comment since any potential sales would be negotiated between the two governments.

The F-35 is in operational use by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, which last month carried out its first operational deployment of a small number of jets to Estonia for training with other U.S. and NATO military aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force this month also announced this month that it plans to bring the F-35 to the Paris Air Show in June.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-fighter-germany-exclusive-idUSKCN18D13X
 
Didn't Germans announce their own stealth fighter?
 
Hope European nations collaborate to make their own 5th gen planes rather than buy from US.
 
Germany may buy F-35 fighter jets.
Germany may not buy F-35 jets. This article is meaningless. What an Airbus employee want is meaningless and what the pussies from the Luftwaffe want is meaningless, too.
Nevertheless you are right. The F-35 could be an alternative for the replacement of the Tornado, but i really doubt it will become so.
The most probably case would be a joint development with France.

Yes it does. In manned and/or unmanned for. For penetration/strike role.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/revealed-new-stealth-bomber-plans-germany-14755
No, it doesn't. Your link is nonsense. The originial report shows only we are planning a replacement for the Tornado and that is the only fact. Because our planes will starting to fall from the skies in the next years.

But horus question was if Germany intend to build an own stealth aircraft and that isn't true.
If we build something stealth it will surely be almost unmanned and only in cooperation.
 
The F-35 would take over the role of the Tornado,just like in Turkiye where they will take over the role of the F-4.
The Germans have announced nothing of the sort.

No, it doesn't. Your link is nonsense. The originial report shows only we are planning a replacement for the Tornado and that is the only fact. Because our planes will starting to fall from the skies in the next years.

But horus question was if Germany intend to build an own stealth aircraft and that isn't true.
If we build something stealth it will surely be almost unmanned and only in cooperation.
SO, this is BS too then?

Lesestoff: Deutschlands neue ‚Militärische Luftfahrtstrategie‘ (Nachtrag: Ohne Nukleare Teilhabe)
T.Wiegold 19. Januar 2016
...
Einen wesentlichen Punkt hatte die Reuters-Kollegin Sabine Siebold bereits beim Blick auf einen Entwurf im Dezember vergangenen Jahres entdeckt: Die geplante multinationale Entwicklung eines neuen, möglicherweise auch unbemannten Kampfjets. Das findet sich in dem Papier so wieder:

ef5ffe469bc54315ad5278996f47dcd5

Ein NextGenWS [Waffensystem der nächsten Generation], als zukünftiges komplementäres System zum Waffensystem EUROFIGHTER im Systemverbund FCAS [Future Combat Air System] und in Teilbereichen als möglicher Nachfolger des Waffensystems TORNADO, ist auf die zukünftigen Anforderungen luftgestützter Waffensysteme auszurichten.

Das NextGenWS könnte dabei unbemannt, bemannt, aber auch optional bemannt sein.

http://augengeradeaus.net/2016/01/lesestoff-deutschlands-neue-militaerische-luftfahrtstrategie/

FOr those that don't read German, in English that reads:
Sabine Siebold, the Reuters colleague, had already discovered a significant point in the process of looking at a draft in December last year: the planned multinational development of a new, possibly also unmanned, fighter jet. This is reflected in the paper:
A nextGenWS [next generation weapon system], a future complementary system to the EUROFIGHTER weapon system in the FCAS [Future Combat Air System] system cluster and in some areas as a possible successor to the TORNADO weapon system, is to be aligned with the future requirements of airborne weapon systems.
The NextGenWS could be unmanned, manned, or also optionally manned.

5 July 2016 (Royal Aeronautical Society)
Airbus Defence and Space's FCAS concept will inform Bundeswehr plans for a potentional successor to the Tornado. (AirbusDS)
With a growing realisation that it needs to think about modernising parts of its aging front-line force, in January, the German Bundeswehr released a White Paper on future plans and proposals. One of these, the Next Generation Weapon System (NGWS) is intended to replace the Tornado which the Luftwaffe may keep in service until 2040 – some 20 years after the RAF will have retired its last GR4.
http://www.janes.com/article/61628/airbus-ds-defining-fcas-aircraft-requirements-with-bundeswehr

20 June 2016 (Janes):
Airbus Defence and Space (DS) is currently working with the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) to identify future threats and capability needs to inform its work on the Future Combat Air System (FCAS)
The FCAS project to replace the German Air Force's Panavia Tornado and to complement the Eurofighter Typhoon manned combat aircraft was first revealed in the Air Capability Strategy Paper released by the German government in January [2016]. No details were released at that time, except that the platform might be manned, unmanned, or optionally manned.
Dubbed the Next-Generation Weapon System by Airbus DS, the FCAS will likely be "a system of systems" according to Gutierrez.
http://www.janes.com/article/61628/airbus-ds-defining-fcas-aircraft-requirements-with-bundeswehr

March 2017 (Defence Blog)
Future Combat Air System > a “system of systems” that combines manned and unmanned aircraft into one operational unit.
10204870288703964vt-1-1024x725.jpg

http://defence-blog.com/news/german...own-sixth-generation-stealth-fighter-jet.html
 
Germany may not buy F-35 jets. This article is meaningless. What an Airbus employee want is meaningless and what the pussies from the Luftwaffe want is meaningless, too.
Nevertheless you are right. The F-35 could be an alternative for the replacement of the Tornado, but i really doubt it will become so.
The most probably case would be a joint development with France.


No, it doesn't. Your link is nonsense. The originial report shows only we are planning a replacement for the Tornado and that is the only fact. Because our planes will starting to fall from the skies in the next years.

But horus question was if Germany intend to build an own stealth aircraft and that isn't true.
If we build something stealth it will surely be almost unmanned and only in cooperation.
European powers like France, Germany, U. K can sure build a 5th generation fighter (even independently), the main issue is capital/funding. It will be difficult to justify to the public the spending of tens or even hundreds of billions on such a project,especially giving we don't face any immediate threat a la Soviet So it's a hard sell.
It's also for the same reason we seek other European countries to join us in building the typhoons even though we could have perfectly done it alone without any issues.
So the only way for Germany to build a fifth generation is by partnering with other European countries not just France, giving the huge cost involved
 
SO, this is BS too then?

No, i have said nonsense not bs, means, what you had said didn't make sense in context of Horus question.
And it's true, we are not planning to build any stealth Aircraft, this was only a theory of national Interest, what you have proofed more than enough wir your last post. Therefore what is the point, which is exactly a problem for you?
My answer, if we build something with stealth abilities it would only be unmanned?
 
No, i have said nonsense not bs, means, what you had said didn't make sense in context of Horus question.
And it's true, we are not planning to build any stealth Aircraft, this was only a theory of national Interest, what you have proofed more than enough wir your last post. Therefore what is the point, which is exactly a problem for you?
My answer, if we build something with stealth abilities it would only be unmanned?
As is stands, all options are open: manned, unmanned, optionally manned.
 
European powers like France, Germany, U. K can sure build a 5th generation fighter (even independently), the main issue is capital/funding. It will be difficult to justify to the public the spending of tens or even hundreds of billions on such a project,especially giving we don't face any immediate threat a la Soviet So it's a hard sell.
It's also for the same reason we seek other European countries to join us in building the typhoons even though we could have perfectly done it alone without any issues.
So the only way for Germany to build a fifth generation is by partnering with other European countries not just France, giving the huge cost involved

SAAB claims the development cost of Gripen E is 2B€.

Their model based development and App based S/W architecture results in
development time for new functionality to be reduced from months, to days.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/ar...-reveal-true-cost-of-fighter-development.html
 
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