To replace the Panavia Tornado, it was decided to incorporate 35 F-35 stealth fighters for nuclear deterrence missions and to accelerate the development of the electronic warfare version of the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Entscheidung zur Tornado-Nachfolge ist getroffen: Mit dem Flugzeugtyp F-35 wird die Aufgabe zur Nuklearen Teilhabe zukünftig gewährleistet bleiben. Ziel ist es, den Tornado bis 2030 zu ersetzen. pic.twitter.com/ItVxXRfjI9

— Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) March 14, 2022

Confirmed moments ago by German Defense Minister Christine Lambrech, when the Luftwaffe’s Panavia Tornado attack and electronic warfare aircraft are completely retired from service in 2030, they will be replaced by a combination of Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighters and Airbus Defense & Space’s Eurofighter ECR.

F-35, stealth and nuclear

Initially, some 35 units of the U.S. fifth-generation fighter will be purchased, mainly with nuclear deterrence missions in mind. Of the options to replace the Tornado (the others being the Boeing «Super Hornet» and the Typhoon), the F-35A was the only aircraft certified to deliver the US B-61 nuclear bomb, of which Germany possesses about twenty, as part of its responsibility for NATO’s «nuclear share» policy.

"Die #F35 ist das modernste Kampfflugzeug der Welt. Die Entscheidung, diesen Jet zu beschaffen, stärkt unsere Fähigkeit gemeinsam mit unseren Partnern den @NATO – Luftraum zu sichern und das Bündnis zu verteidigen." So GenLt Ingo Gerhartz. "Zusammen mit der Weiterentwicklung… pic.twitter.com/0VrbPubXEj

— Team Luftwaffe (@Team_Luftwaffe) March 14, 2022

The news was received with joy by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), which for years had been trying to convince the government that the F-35 was the best and least complicated option. Both the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet (preferred option of the former Minister of Defense) and the Eurofighter Typhoon (defended by the industrial chamber and trade unions) would have to go through a long, cumbersome and costly certification process so that Germany would not lose its nuclear capability.

Eurofighter ECR

The choice of the F-35 is not such a blow to Airbus, which was seeking to impose the Typhoon as the exclusive replacement for the Tornado, as the Minister also announced the continuation of the development of the Eurofighter ECR, an electronic warfare and enemy air defense strike version of the European multi-role fighter.

The configuration shown by Airbus is that of a two-seat aircraft carrying two new-generation electronic jamming pods, two wingtip emissions locator stations, six of the new Spear-EW electronic attack missiles, Meteor and Iris-T air-to-air missiles and three 1,000-liter external fuel tanks.

The centerpiece of the ECR version will be the powerful electronic warfare pod being developed by the German firm HENSOLDT. It will be equipped with the most advanced technological elements (such as AESA GaN solid-state transmitters) that will allow the localization, classification and disruption of any radar emitter, from safe distances.

In the Eurofighter ECR, the co-pilot’s seat is transformed into a sort of «digital office», from which a specialist officer will be dedicated to controlling the complex mission systems. The new cockpit configuration features a state-of-the-art panoramic touchscreen, which provides great visibility to all mission-critical elements. Weapons control will be performed by HOTAS (Hands-On-Thtottle-And-Stick) system.

It remains to be seen how many of these specialized aircraft the Luftwaffe will end up acquiring, because if the plan is for the Eurofighter to do most of the work that the Tornado does today, the ECR version will be indispensable to significantly improve the European fighter’s chances of survival in enemy airspace penetration missions.