Military & Defense
Germany: First Luftwaffe F-35A arrives in Arkansas for pilot training
Germany’s first F-35A Lightning II has arrived at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where it will be used to train Luftwaffe pilots, Lockheed Martin announced. Deliveries to Germany begin in 2027.
Germany’s first F-35A Lightning II has arrived at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, where it will be used to train the pilots of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), Lockheed Martin announced. The aircraft was flown from the company’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, ahead of the first deliveries to Germany in 2027.
Eight German F-35As will be temporarily based at Ebbing for training, and all of them are already in final assembly at Fort Worth. Germany ordered 35 F-35As through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme; the government-to-government contract was approved on December 14, 2022. The fighters carry full-colour national insignia, as do the F-35s of Denmark and Belgium.
The main mission of the German F-35As will be NATO’s nuclear deterrence under the alliance’s nuclear-sharing arrangement, in which they replace the Tornado IDS. Under that arrangement, aircraft of allied air forces are equipped to carry US B61 nuclear bombs. The first aircraft are expected to arrive at their home base at Büchel in 2027.
