BERLIN (Reuters) -German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius intends to order an additional 15 F-35 fighter jets from U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin, a parliamentary source told Reuters on Monday, confirming a report by Spiegel magazine.
Planners expect the aircraft to cost about 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion), according to confidential documents prepared for parliament’s budget committee, the source said.
Another source familiar with the matter confirmed the discussions to buy additional aircraft, without citing a number. The defence ministry in Berlin declined to comment.
Germany has already ordered 35 of the U.S.-made jets to replace its fleet of 85 ageing Tornado fighter jets, which are set to be decommissioned.
The F-35 aircraft will succeed the Tornado jets in their role of carrying U.S. nuclear bombs stored in Germany in the event of a conflict.
In July, Berlin denied plans to acquire an additional 15 F-35 fighter jets, but a significantly expanded defence budget has since created more scope for weapons purchases.
At the time, a military source told Reuters that the idea of acquiring 15 more F-35 jets had been part of earlier discussions.
Any decision to purchase more F-35 aircraft could cause new tensions between Germany and France, which have been at odds over their struggling fighter jet project FCAS, or SCAF in French.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Mike Stone and Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Toby Chopra and Ros Russell)
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