Airbus presses Berlin to confirm Eurofighter portion of Tornado replacement plan

Airbus has pressed the German government to confirm the previously announced plan to buy additional Eurofighter combat aircraft as part of the Luftwaffe’s wider Tornado replacement requirement.

Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space (DS), said on 15 March that his company “needs that decision too”, following Berlin’s announcement that it would acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to satisfy the nuclear mission of this requirement, with more Eurofighters to be developed into an electronic attack variant.

“The majority of Tornados are used in the conventional fighter-bomber role, and should also be replaced by Eurofighter [Tranche 5]. We need that decision now, too. That’s key as Eurofighter is the technological bridge towards [the Future Combat Air System] FCAS to be on [the same] level with our future partners [France and Spain],” Schoellhorn tweeted.