On Thursday, February 19, 2026, Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported that Germany is considering the purchase of at least 35 additional F-35A Lightning II multirole aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin, on top of the 35 already on order, amid uncertainty surrounding the European sixth-generation combat aircraft program Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
Image: Lockheed Martin
One source indicated that discussions involve at least 35 additional aircraft, while the second confirmed only that negotiations are underway, noting that a positive outcome is not guaranteed. It is worth recalling that reports of a potential increase in Germany’s F-35 fleet surfaced twice last year.
The first rumors of a possible addition of up to 15 aircraft appeared on July 10, 2025, in the U.S. magazine Politico, citing several individuals familiar with the matter who said Berlin was considering such a move. Following that publication, however, the German government denied the reports. On October 20, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported that it had obtained confidential budget documents indicating that Berlin was indeed planning to acquire 15 additional F-35A Lightning II aircraft. The current figure under discussion is significantly higher and would at least double the Luftwaffe’s fleet.
F-35A for the Luftwaffe
On July 28, 2022, Germany received approval from the United States Department of State to purchase 35 F-35A aircraft along with equipment and weapons packages valued at up to 8.4 billion USD. On December 14, 2022, the Federal Ministry of Defence signed the corresponding Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA). On August 17, 2023, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded a 622.36 million USD contract to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for initial production work on Germany’s aircraft. Production of the first aircraft, serial number MG-01, began on December 5, 2024, with final assembly commencing on November 21, 2025. The first eight aircraft are scheduled for delivery to the Luftwaffe in 2027 (originally planned for 2026).
Germany’s F-35As will be armed with AIM-120 AMRAAM AIM-120C-8 medium-range air-to-air missiles, AIM-9X Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II+ short-range missiles, AGM-158 JASSM-ER AGM-158B JASSM-ER extended-range cruise missiles, GBU-53/B StormBreaker guided bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition (GBU-31 and GBU-54), Naval Strike Missile anti-ship missiles, and, most notably, and the primary reason for Berlin’s selection of the platform, the B61 nuclear bomb B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bombs under NATO’s Nuclear Sharing arrangements.
What About FCAS?
Behind the reports of additional F-35 negotiations lies the German-French-Spanish sixth-generation combat aircraft program Future Combat Air System (FCAS/SCAF/FSAC), which Belgium is also seeking to join. Initially launched by Berlin and Paris in 2017 and valued at approximately €100 billion, the program aims to develop a successor to the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale fleets. It is currently facing difficulties, as Airbus Defence and Space and Dassault Aviation remain at odds over detailed workshare arrangements. The final design has yet to be selected despite last year’s deadline passing.
Reuters also reported that Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury expressed support for potentially splitting the program into two combat aircraft types. “We believe that the deadlock of a single pillar should not jeopardise the entire future of this high-tech European capability, which will bolster our collective defence. If mandated by our customers, we would support a two- fighter solution and are committed to playing a leading role.”
The crewed New Generation Fighter (NGF) is one pillar of FCAS. The other two are Remote Carriers (RC), combat unmanned aerial systems, and the Air Combat Cloud (ACC), designed to analyze data in real time, support decision-making, and provide cyber protection.
UPDATE
On Thursday, February 19, a spokesperson for the German federal government told Reuters that there are currently no plans to purchase additional F-35A Lightning II aircraft.
“There are no plans and no decision,” the spokesperson said.