According to information site Handelsblatt.com, based on an internal plan from the German Ministry of Defense, Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer would have approved the acquisition of 90 Eurofighters Typhoon from the European manufacturer Airbus DS, as well as 45 Super Hornet aircraft from the American Boeing, in order to replace the 85 Panavia Tornado still in service with the Luftwaffe. This decision, which has not yet been publicly announced, would allow the German air forces to ultimately field nearly 280 combat aircraft, 45 more than the previous plan planned. Unless the 90 Typhoon announced do not include the aircraft intended to replace the Eurofighters of tranche I which cannot evolve, and of which replacement by Typhoon of tranche IV has already been announced by Berlin.
Concretely, Berlin seems to have given in to Washington, which had declared that it did not plan to carry the B61 gravitational nuclear bomb deployed in 5 NATO countries (Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey), on the European apparatus Typhoon, as was the case in the 80s for the Tornado. To maintain a certain form of deterrence, and maintain its position in NATO, Berlin therefore agreed to choose the F / A 18 E / F Super Hornet, an American plane, even if the latter is not yet able to carry this ammunition. In addition, Berlin plans to hand over the electronic warfare and air defense suppression missions to 15 EA-18G Growlers, the electronic warfare version of the Super Hornet employed by the US Navy and Australia.
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