German Air Force

In a process begun in the mid-1990s now speeded up by the current government , the Luftwaffe ( German Air Force) is currently adopting its equipment-requirements to reflect current and future needs. The Luftwaffe had to adjust its missions to take account of the possibility of involvement in conflict beyond the borders of Europe. The Luftwaffe aims for the capacity to participate in multi-national joint crisis management operations covering the whole spectrum, from humanitarian aid to collective defence. Priority has been given to the purchase of 180 Eurofighters, representing the largest slice of the German MoD's procurement budget. The introduction of the Eurofighter into the Air Force is due to start in the fourth quarter of 2003. The German Eurofighter programme was given a boost with the first flight of the first German series production Eurofighter (IPA 3 Instrumented Production Aircraft) at the EADS facility this year. The first unit to receive the Eurofighter will be Jagdgeschwader 73 at Laage , currently equipped with F-4F Phantoms and Mig-29s. The Phantoms and Mig-29s will be replaced with the Eurofighter over time. The Mig-29s will be handed over to Poland in 2003, and the Phantoms will be be slowly phased out which began in 2002.

In the Future there will be five Eurofighter wings ( each equipped with 36 aircraft ) which will be accompanied by 125 Tornados ( down from 267 today ). In contrast to UK and France, the German DOD has so far not discussed a new strike aircraft to replace it's Tornados. Funding for this project might be hard to find after the costly purchase of the Eurofighter. There have been strong suggestions that in the long term (beyond 2020) the Eurofighter will be the air force's single combat aircraft platform. Most of the 275 have gone through an initial upgrade and are now in the process of going through a Mid-Life Improvement (MLI) programme and a New Avionics Structure.