The Germany Defence Ministry was reported on February 19 to be considering placing an order for up to 35 additional F-35A fifth generation fighters, doubling the number of the aircraft it plans to field, in response to the continued stalling of the pan-European Future Air Combat System (FCAS) stealth fighter program being pursued jointly with France and Spain.
Discussions with the United States may involve more than 35 additional aircraft, according to informed sources cited by Reuters, raising the possibility that the F-35 could form the backbone of the German fleet as it increasingly has for a growing number of countries across Europe. The F-35 is the only NATO-compatible fighter of its generation in production anywhere in the world, which has allowed it to comfortably win every tender in which it has competed.
Germany’s political leadership had previously long opposed the possibility of procuring the F-35, due to the perceived risks of overreliance on the United States and a need to protect local industry. The procurement of the first 35 fighters was approved only in December 2022, following the coming power of the Olaf Scholtz administration, and in the aftermath of the outbreak of full scale hostilities between Russia and Ukraine earlier that year.
The aircraft were previously expected to be relied on primarily for nuclear delivery roles under Germany’s nuclear sharing agreement with the United States, with expanded procurements beyond 35 aircraft indicating plans for a much expanded role in the fleet. Reports that an expansion of F-35 orders was expected to proceed first emerged in July, but were denied by multiple high level sources at the time. The Defence Ministry was then reported in October to be planning to expand F-35A procurements by just 15 aircraft under a $2.9 billion deal.
A leading factor reported to be increasing German interest in the F-35 is the current state o the Future Combat Air System program, which has continued to face growing difficulties, raising serious questions regarding whether it is at all viable.
It was reported in September 2025 that officials at the German Defence Ministry were considering options to leave the program entirely, while in December the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence indicated openness to Germany jointing the Global Combat Air Program, which is intended to develop next generation fighter with Japan and Italy. The vast discrepancy between European technologies and industrial capabilities, and those of the industry leaders China and the United States, however, has meant that even when European states work closely together, they are not expected to be able to produce fully peer level fighters.
The FCAS program is not expected to produce a fighter for over two decades, with Dassault CEO Eric Trappier having observed as early as 2021 that “[The target of] 2040 is already missed, because we already stall, and the discussions of the next phase will surely also be long… so we rather aim for the 2050s.” These delays are expected to significantly increase the appeal of the F-35 to countries that had planned to procure the pan-European aircraft, including Germany and Spain, while France’s reluctance to procure the F-35 has left it at risk of becoming the world’s very last nuclear weapons state to field post-fourth generation fighters.
Although having fallen far behind China and the United States, Russia remains comfortably ahead of Europe in bringing advanced fifth generation fighters into service, with a particularly large batch of Su-57 fighters with new enhanced capabilities reported on February 9 to have been delivered. As the Russian aircraft continues to be modernised, the growing numbers in service risk leaving European fleets of fourth generation fighters at a steep disadvantage.
© 2026, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
