A report this year found missing spare parts and quality defects mean less than half of Germany’s submarines, warplanes and some other key weapons are ready for use
German newspaper Handelsblatt says Berlin plans to go on a shopping spree for new weapons and 18 contracts each worth more than 25 million euros are to be approved by the budget and defense committees.
Plans are underway to buy six C-130Js from the U.S., upgrade the radar of the Eurofighter, upgrade Puma armored personnel carriers, sign a maintenance contract for NH90 helicopters and to procure telecommunication facilities for frigates and new uniforms and protective equipment.
Officials had described the list as “preliminary” and would depend on the 2018 budget.
Germany sharply curtailed military spending after the end of the Cold War, but began boosting spending again after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014. According Reuters, a report this year found missing spare parts and quality defects mean less than half of Germany’s submarines, warplanes and some other key weapons are ready for use.
The ministry was not immediately available for comment on the report.
Handelsblatt said orders include procuring Israeli Heron TP drones, which Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and their junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), agreed in their coalition deal earlier this year.
Germany’s armed forces are also due to get seven rescue helicopters, the newspaper said. It said the Defense Ministry wanted to extend the contract for the deployment of Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft for the period 2019 to 2021.
Furthermore as we have previously reported, the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) has a requirement to field a replacement for its fleet of 90 Tornado IDS (Interdiction Strike) and ECR aircraft starting from 2025 to enable a smooth transition into the retirement of the Tornado in about 2030. The German government stated that its preferred choice is to procure additional Eurofighter Typhoons, but the Super Hornet is on the list of preferred alternatives along with Boeing’s F-15 Advanced Eagle and Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Photo credit: 86 AW/PA / U.S. Air Force
Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com
