Germany Wants European Collaboration For Tornado Replacement
The German government is calling for European collaboration on a program to develop a next-generation combat aircraft to replace the Panavia Tornado.
Germany wants the NextGenWS (weapon system)—which could be manned, unmanned or even optionally manned—to enter operational service during the 2020s, taking on many of the roles of the aging Tornado and complementing the country’s fleet of Eurofighters.
But Germany is unable to develop such a capability on its own. The German defense ministry’s newly published Military Aviation Strategy says that a “single-handed national development for weapon systems of this complexity no longer seems possible,” so it wants “concrete European collaboration,” firmed up during 2016 to pave the way for the new system. “An early dialog in Europe about possible common objectives, development lines and options for action will be initiated by the [German defense ministry] shortly,” the report states.
The plan emerges as Germany begins to embark on a major rearmament program, not only in light of increased Russian aggression but also to remedy shortages in funding that have impaired the German armed forces’ ability to operate. Poor serviceability has meant low availability for some aircraft and helicopter fleets in recent years. Just in the past year, the German defense ministry has selected a new ground-based air-defense system and begun studies into replacing its heavy-lift helicopter fleets. Germany also appears likely to join a European multinational aerial refueling force being established by the Netherlands using Airbus A330s.
However, the German government may not find many takers for such a new combat aircraft development. Of the nations that could potentially afford to join such a development program, many—such as Italy, which also flies the Tornado—are already going down the F-35 route or are participating in joint unmanned combat air vehicle programs, such as the Anglo-French Future Combat Air System (FCAS) feasibility study. It is certainly possible that Germany could join one of these development programs. Germany and France already have close ties, and Britain is keen to expand its defense ties with Germany further.
But the German strategy is to try to take a lead role in such a program, as it has with the EuroMALE UAV project with France, Italy and Spain. “It is important to learn from the experiences of the past and move from being part of the contracting authority to a real lead-nation principal,” the strategy document dictates. Furthermore, historically Germany has not always been the easiest of partner nations to work with. Berlin had previously attempted on numerous occasions to wriggle its way out of the Eurofighter program, and politics in Germany have inadvertently held back efforts to expand the aircraft’s capabilities.
NextGenWS has evolved out of Germany’s own FCAS studies, which sees the Eurofighter as the backbone of Germany’s combat aircraft fleet until the 2040s. Under FCAS, the Tornado will remain in service until the mid-2020s, although this could be pushed back into the 2030s if the NextGenWS is not yet operational or available. Officials would like to achieve an interim operating capability with the NextGenWS before the Tornado is retired from service.
As in the U.K., Germany’s Tornados are the country’s primary strike platform, carrying precision-guided cruise missiles in the form of the KEPD 350 Taurus. A special version, called Tornado ECR, performs the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) mission. The Tornado is also the platform capable of dropping U.S. B61 nuclear bombs based in Germany under a dual-key arrangement. German politicians have called for the removal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Germany, but that has not yet happened.
The German aircraft have been progressively upgraded; Airbus Defense and Space developed the Avionics System Software Tornado Ada [Ada is the programming language] (Assta) spiral upgrade, which has improved mission systems and computer processing power. All 85 aircraft are due to be fitted with the Assta 3.1 update by the end of 2018. Several Luftwaffe Tornados are currently performing reconnaissance missions over Syria after France asked Germany for assistance following the terrorist attacks in Paris.
As with the U.K., Germany also intends to adapt the Eurofighter to take on some of the Tornado’s capabilities. It plans to add the GBU-48 laser-guided bomb in the relatively near future, as well as to integrate both the larger GBU-24 Paveway III and the Taurus cruise missile on the aircraft. But capabilities such as anti-surface ship attack (ASuW) and SEAD are not expected before 2025. Later models of the Eurofighter, including the Tranche 2/3A model, could remain in service until 2040. A mid-life update for those aircraft will also be considered in the coming years, the aviation strategy document says.