Germany needs U.S.-made F-35s capable of carrying nuclear weapons
Germany needs United States-made F-35 stealth fighter jets capable of deploying nuclear weapons as long as Russia has similar weaponry.
This was conveyed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz when announcing that Berlin would speed up the procurement of F-35 fighter jets. It was delivered at the Security Conference in Berlin.
According to him, Germany will use the aircraft as part of NATO's joint deterrence.
"Anything less than that means making us vulnerable to extortion," Scholz said, as quoted by Russia Today.
Scholz was referring to Western claims that Moscow threatened to use nuclear weapons to win in the Ukrainian war.
Russian officials have rejected the narrative by saying that the warning is just a repetition of the country's nuclear posture.
Instead, Russia considers the global expansion of the U.S.-led military bloc's reach a major threat.
"Russia's position is that any military confrontation between nuclear states, even conventional ones, should be avoided because of the risk of escalation," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The German chancellor said his country would finalize a deal by the end of the year for the procurement of U.S.-produced Lockheed Martin-produced F-35 fighter jets designed to launch nuclear bombs.
Today, the only fighter in the German fleet with that capability is the Panavia Tornado, which the military wants to replace with a more modern aircraft.
The Luftwaffe (German Air Force) has about 90 jets, which were introduced in the 1980s and will be phased out between 2025 and 2030.
Germany is reportedly considering purchasing up to 35 F-35 units with an arms cost program of €100 billion.
The inclusion of the American plane in the list of replacement candidates, which the German Defense Ministry reported to Parliament in March, reversed an earlier decision by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, which supports Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.
Russia has long criticized NATO's nuclear weapons-sharing scheme for violating the spirit of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
According to Moscow, by training countries like Poland on how to deploy American nuclear weapons, Washington is destabilizing the balance of power in Europe.
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