Buy what you can’t develop yourself.
Europe is reeling from the frantic rearmament efforts of its countries and from the weapons development initiatives that often fail to deliver the goods.
One such example is the ambitious French-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System, a fighter plane project that was just dropped.
Now, German defense leaders are back searching for a new-generation fighter jet.
Yesterday, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius outlined three options, as Defense News reported:
“One option consists of buying additional stealthy F-35 jets from the United States on top of the 35 already ordered, he said on the sidelines of a meeting with his Czech counterpart, Jaromír Zůna, in Berlin.
German news outlet Der Spiegel reported last October that plans were already in the works to purchase 15 such warplanes from the U.S., to the tune of almost $3 billion.”
Pistorius confirms: that could be a ‘bridge’ solution.
“The second option entails Berlin getting involved in an existing international fighter program with sixth-generation features, Pistorius said. Aside from a U.S. push to that end, the most obvious candidate for this path would be a British-Italian-Japanese effort, dubbed Global Combat Air Program.
Finally, Germany could start its own program, Pistorius said, ‘under German leadership with Airbus and other partners’.”
The power behind Germany’s first F-35 is now installed. 🇩🇪
The aircraft recently completed engine install, marking another key production milestone on the path to delivering advanced 5th Gen capability for Germany. pic.twitter.com/a6eiapoeMR
— Lockheed Martin Europe (@LMEuropeNews) June 4, 2026
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