Germany on Wednesday signed a contract with the US to purchase dozens of Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighter jets, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads that the US keeps in Germany.
There are about 20 US B-61 nuclear gravity bombs stored in Germany under NATO’s nuclear sharing program. While Germany has no nuclear weapons of its own, it maintains a fleet of aging Tornado bombers capable of dropping them, which the F-35s will replace.
“The German F-35 program will ensure the continuation of Germany’s alliance commitments and guarantee NATO’s credible deterrence in the future,” the US Embassy in Berlin said in a statement.
Germany announced its intention to purchase the F-35s back in March as part of a plan to boost military spending. Germany will acquire 35 of the fighter jets in a deal worth about $10.5 billion, and they are expected to be delivered between 2026 and 2029. The F-35s are be scheduled to replace the Tornados in the nuclear-sharing mission in 2030.
Under NATO’s nuclear sharing program, the US keeps nuclear warheads in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. There are currently no known nuclear weapons in countries that joined NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but Poland is open to hosting them and has held discussions with the US about the issue.
Finnish leaders have said they wouldn’t rule out hosting NATO nuclear weapons if they join the alliance, which would be a major provocation as Finland shares an over 800-mile border with Russia. But Finland’s president has since assured that the country has no plans to host nukes and that there are “no signs” NATO would look to deploy them there.
Every time I see or hear a reference to the “nuclear sharing program,” I’m amazed again by the reckless stupidity of some of our fellow humans.
And our propaganda machine had to really crank it up a notch. Suddenly people now think a nuclear war is winnable.
They are so stupid and will never ask what will be left to win, a planet in radio active rubble??
Yes. The dead will be the lucky ones.
Planet of the apes….
Curtis LeMay would be so proud.
Too bad they can’t fly more than 50% of the time.
F-35 are excellent planes. They have the best one deep maintenance plan of any plane ever produced.
And, golly gee whiz, they spend more time on the ground than in the air, and for a mere $135 million per aircraft, such a deal!!!
Of course they spend more time on the ground than in the air. What military plane is in the air constantly? Anyway, only one F-35 crash was caused my a malfunction of the airplane. All other crashes were result of pilot or ground crew errors. In peacetime, new military planes are routinely grounded after accident just to make sure there is systematic problems with the aircraft. And there is not one with F-35.
They can fly and fly real fast but they cannot maneuver a tight turn.
The F-35 is not designed to be super maneuverable. Instead it is designed to carry out it mission without being detected. It will shoot down an opposing aircraft before that opposing aircraft can detect that an F-35 is in the same airspace.
Not true. This is Pure propaganda. Very dishonest comment.
F-35 are top notch aircraft. At this point in time, they are the best fighter bombers in the world.
Based on how much combat experience?
Ask IAF. They have been using them with great success, including flying 3 of them over Tehran just for “fun” in July of 2018.
Are the nukes free or do they cost extra? I’m sure there is a special payment plan?….
I’m sure they’re not free, but I wonder if you can order them from Amazon. Maybe you can save money if you get them “renewed.”
I recommend buying them on a layaway plan. That way you will not have to store them until you need them.
Nuclear sharing is nuclear caring… 😉
What an idea! A Christmas gift, just in time for Christmas. It’s a perfect time to finally have peace, altogether with our dead loved ones.
Not the most romantic notion I’ve heard of but if it works for you, it works for me… ETERNAL PEACE ON EARTH!
i bet that the weapons makers have catalogs like the Sears catalog.
my siblings and i used to study it page by page when we were kids looking at toys and bikes and clothes. “oh i want that one!”
They do, it is called Janes Defense. Expensive, but very good.
Of course, NATO is a “defensive alliance” and of course the USA’s lending nukes to those other members are not contrary to the NPT which forbids spreading nukes around. Peace is so easy to share!
I’m glad I no longer have to rely on television, newspapers and magazines for news. Today I now know who the bad guys are and none of them is Russia.
“The 35 jets, the world’s most advanced warplanes, should be delivered between 2026 and 2029, it said.”
That little detail says it all. Germany is kicking the ball down the field, well past the use-by date of the Anglo-Zionist Empire, which will either be buried in the sands of time, or… WWIII!
I guess you never heard of production lead time or training of pilots and ground crew.
There is no sharing of American nuclear weapons with allies, that is empty talk, Germany has nothing to say regarding the stationing of nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapons stationed in Germany are targets and the people are opposed to them, but so what?
Elected officials have nothing to say, and the people who do have say have not been elected, so said a German elder elected official some time ago.
“Germany has nothing to say” Sure they do. They can leave NATO anytime they want to. But they want to.
You are insane if you believe the USA would pack up and leave Ramstein behind? Did you know they guide the drones in the ME from the Ramstein AFB? Near Ramstein AB is the biggest military hospital outside the continental USA? They rely on the MEDICAL German infrastructure in Germany too, even for civilian family members.
Sure the US has vital installation in Germany. But your point is that the Germany is just a US “slave” and they nothing to say. That is not the case. Germany is a willing partner and the nukes are there with the consent of Germany.
That is your opinion, I know better. Germany is not a sovereign state, but for political reasons it is not being said. The pipeline explosion made it clear who is in charge, now people understand who is in charge. The deliberate destruction of the German economy is letting the cat out of the bag. If any American government officials did what the Scholz government does they would be called traitors and would be sitting on death row by now. I recall the resistance of the German people against the Pershing missiles in Germany and the demonstrations, the US OPPOSITION to NS 1&2 and the blow up of both pipelines says it all. The US is the occupier and now they show their teeth.
Zelensky the same, he is throwing his nation under the bus, genocide is what is being done to the Ukraine and the people. The USA/NATO heads of state all are war criminals. They keep destroying Ukraine knowing they can’t win against Russia and they go on killing the people, just as they did in Mariupol when they gave no permission to surrender knowing full well the people would die if they did not. Responsible military people know when enough is enough. But Biden and Zelensky and Azov Nazis don’t know.
Germany is a non nuclear power but a nuclear target anyway. Not that it really matters, there is no way that would protect it from being a nuclear target.
All fighter bombers can carried gravity nuclear bombs. It is just a matter of changing out the bomb racks. Follow up note: RMS145 correctly pointed out that the planes also needed to be certified. So the fighter bombers have to some additional bomb control electronics added to the plane. But the basic statement is the same, all fighter bombers with some modifications can carried gravity nuclear bombs.
Anything can carry a nuclear bombs. I can carry one on a skateboard inside my backpack.
A MERV? Riiiggght.
When I was in high school in the 60’s, three of our neighbors were Navy or Marine fighter pilots flying out of El Toro. One was the lead in a squadron that could deliver a nuke, one for each aircraft. All three saw service later in Vietnam.
It’s not that simple, the plane in question has to be technically certified to carry US nuclear weapons. It is not just a matter of load capacity and the correct bomb racks.
You are correct that the plane also has to have the Aircraft Monitoring and Control (AMAC) system and the Nuclear Consent Switch installed to be “certified”. So I should have said with the proper bomb rack and some wiring all fighter bombers can carried nuclear weapons. That is why there is around 15 NATO fighter bomber types “certified’ to carry nuclear bombs. Even some helicopters(SH-3 and SH-60F) are certified.
I can make this headline even more dramatic and scare even more people, Watch this:
“Germany Signs Contract to Purchase F-35s That Can End the World in one second”
Yes, the worthless and easily detected F35 will be in a German arsenal.
Maybe you should ask the Iranians about how the “easily detected F35” flew over Tehran a few years ago. Maybe they were just a fly over for a soccer match. LOL
It’s a pretty sad day Kenny when you have to boost the mighty F35 by comparing it to a defense forces of a developing country.
It’s like you showing your strength to a child and brag about it.’
Truly a colossally stupid decision and waste of funds. What Germany would need nuclear bomb-capable fighter planes for is pretty hard to fathom – unless they want to wipe out Polish farmers over the border…
What? F-35s are best fighter bombers available today. The nuclear bomb capability is just a side benefit.