This list intends to give an accurate detail list of the equipment currently fielded by the German Air Force.
This section duplicates the scope of other articles, specifically German Air Force#Aircraft.(April 2024) |
Aircraft | Origin | Image | Type | Variant | In service | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Combat aircraft | ||||||
Eurofighter Typhoon | Germany Italy Spain UK | Interceptor | T1 | 33 | ||
multirole | T2 | 79 | ||||
multirole | T3 | 31 | ||||
Panavia Tornado | Germany Italy UK | multirole | IDS | 68 | [1] | |
Panavia Tornado | Germany Italy UK | SEAD / ECR (Electronic Combat Reconnaissance) | ECR | 21 | [1] | |
Military Transport / Aerial refueling | ||||||
Airbus A400M | Europe | tactical airlifter / aerial refueling | A400M | 40 | 13 additional still on order [2] | |
Lockheed Martin C-130J | United States | tactical airlifter | C-130J-30 | 3 | [3] | |
United States | tactical airlifter / aerial refueling | KC-130J | 3 | [4] | ||
Helicopter | ||||||
Airbus Helicopters H145 | Germany | light utility | EC645 T2 LUH SOF | 16 | German Air Force as a special forces transport helicopter and has been configured to support their missions both during the day and night. Flown by Special Forces Command [5] | |
Eurocopter AS532 | France | VIP transport | AS532 U2 | 3 | [6] | |
Sikorsky CH-53 | United States | transport | CH-53G | 66 | [7] | |
Trainer aircraft | ||||||
Grob G 120 | Germany | basic trainer | G 120A / G 120TP | 6 / 5 | [8] / [8] | |
Northrop T-38 | United States | jet trainer | T-38C | 46 [9] | ||
UAVs | ||||||
IAI Heron | Israel | surveillance | Heron 1 | 5 [10] | to be replaced by Heron TP [10] | |
IAI Heron | Israel | surveillance and combat | Heron TP (Eitan) | 5 [10] | 5 on order [10] | |
Transport - "Grey Fleet" | ||||||
Airbus A321neo | Europe | Transport and | A321LR | 2 | [11] | |
Transport - "White Fleet" | ||||||
Airbus A319 | Europe | VIP transport | A319CJ | 2 | Passenger and material transport, strategic patient air transport or flights within the framework of arms control [6] | |
Open Skies | A319OH | 1 | The new observation platform OH ("Offener Himmel" = "Open Sky") is equipped with electro-optical sensors, an EO-S/digital camera and an infrared sensor (IR-S) based on an A319CJ from Lufthansa Technik. [12] | |||
Airbus A321 | Europe | VIP, troops transport | A321-200 | 1 | [6] | |
Airbus A350 | Europe | VIP, troops transport | ACJ350 | 3 | [13] | |
Bombardier Global 5000 | Canada | VIP transport | Global 5000 | 3 | [6] | |
Bombardier Global 6000 | Canada | VIP transport | Global 6000 | 3 | [14] [15] [6] |
Aircraft | Origin | Operator | Image | Type | Variant | In service | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Airbus A330 | Europe | MMF (Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet) | Tanker | A330 MRTT | 7 | 3 on order, the last one to be delivered in 2026 | |
Boeing E-3 Sentry | United States | NAEW&CF program (NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force) NATO | AEW&C (Airborne early warning and control) | E-3A | 14 | 18 aircraft used initially [1] | |
Northrop Grumman – RQ-4 Global Hawk | United States | AGS (Alliance Ground Surveillance) NATO | UAV HALE / ISR / | RQ-4D Phoenix (Block 40) | 5 |
Note, NHV provides the H145 rotorcraft training [16] [17]
The IDS standard variant is a strike aircraft. The Recce sub-variant can perform all tasks of the IDS, and is capable of performing reconnaissance missions with a pod. This variant has a modified cockpit cabling and a different cockpit display (ASSTA-1 modernisation). [18]
An electronic warfare and SEAD / DEAD aircraft [18] .
Conventional Guided bombs:
Model | Image | Origin | Type | Number | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MIM-104 Patriot Mobile and Protected Signals Intelligence | Germany United States | SAM | 7 | During Cold War, Germany had 36 Patriot systems in service. As of July 2024:
The systems in service are upgraded to PAC-3 standard, and it is equipped with PAC-2 and PAC-3 CRI missiles in service. Germany has also PAC-3 MSE and PAC-2 GEM-T missiles on order. 16 of the launchers will be converted to be capable to be operate the PAC-3 MSE missiles. [33] [34] | |
IRIS-T SLM Part of the ESSI | Germany | Tactical air defense system | 1 / 6 [35] | It is based on the IRIS-T air-to-air missile [36] equipped with an enlarged rocket motor, data link, and jettisonable drag-reducing nose cone. [37] The radar system expected is the Hensoldt TRML-4D, and it should be supported by the Integrated Battle Management Software Fire Control System (IBMS-FS) by Airbus. Six batteries are purchased for €950 million and the delivery will start from 2024, [38] 8 in total are expected eventually. First delivery in August 2024. [35] | |
Ozelot LeFlaSys (leichtes Flugabwehrsystem) | FlaRaWaTrg: AFF: BF/UF: | Germany United States | Light SHORAD | 67 vehicles | System based on Wiesel 2 vehicles, composed of the variants:
Operated by the 3rd Squadron of 61 Surface-to-Air Missile Group. A standard battery is made of
|
Model | Image | Origin | Type | Quantity | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ground Master 406F | France United States | Early Warning (EW) Radar / | 6 | Modified variant of the GM400 for the German forces, for a fixed radar system. Operated by the "Operational Command Service" of the Luftwaffe (EinsFüDstLw). Manufactured by Thales Raytheon Systems. [40] | |
HADR NF | Germany Israel | 3D radar / Long range air surveillance / | 4 | ||
RRP 117 | United States | 3D radar / Long range air surveillance / | 8 | Under radome, in service since 1998 | |
Selex RAT-31DL | Italy | L-band solid state phased array / 3D surveillance radar | 2 | 500 km range https://electronics.leonardo.com/en/products/rat-31dl | |
Hensoldt’s ASR-S | (Illustration image) | Germany | Airport surveillance radar | 20 | Radar used for:
|
Model | Image | Origin | Type | Quantity | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
TACAN | — | Tactical air navigation | — | [42] |
Aircraft | Origin | Image | Type | Variant | Ordered | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Combat aircraft | ||||||
Eurofighter Typhoon | United Kingdom Germany Italy Spain | Swingrole | T4 | 38 | [43] | |
Swingrole | T5 | (20) | Planned order [44] | |||
SEAD / ECR (Electronic Combat Reconnaissance) | ECR | 15 | [45] [46] | |||
Lockheed Martin F-35 | United States | multirole / nuclear deterrent bomber | F-35A | 35 | [47] Purchased to continue German contribution to the Nuclear sharing B61-12 | |
Helicopter | ||||||
CH-47 Chinook | United States | Heavy transport helicopter | CH-47F Block II | 60 | [48] | |
H145 | Germany | Attack helicopter | H145M | 5 | 62 ordered by the German military, 5 for the Luftwaffe, 57 for the army. 20 additional ones are on option. [49] | |
UAVs | ||||||
Eurodrone | France Germany Italy Spain | surveillance, reconnaissance and combat | — | 21 | 7 systems on contract with 21 drones for €3 billion [50] [51] | |
SIGINT | ||||||
PEGASUS | Germany Canada United States | Surveillance | Global 6000 | 3 | Ordered in 2021, to enter service by 2025 and replace the Eurohawk [14] [15] [6] |
List of aircraft that are planned to be replaced in a near future for which the successor has not yet been selected.
Aircraft | Origin | Image | Type | Quantity | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eurocopter AS532 U2 | France | VIP transport | 3 | €200 million budget for the replacement. It is planned to be replaced from 2027 (after 30 years in service). [52] |
Future aircraft for the German Air Force, to take over the nuclear deterrence mission and to be used as a strike aircraft as well: [53]
System | Image | Origin | Type | Number | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SAM Systems | |||||
Arrow 3 | Israel United States | Anti-ballistic missile | 3 | The sale has been approved by Israel and the USA. The contract cost is $3.5 billion and Germany already paid a $600 million initial payment [58] [59] | |
MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3+ Part of the ESSI | Germany United States | SAM / Anti-ballistic missile | 8 | 048402 Orders:
The contracts include the fire units, spare parts and support services. | |
SAM missiles | |||||
MIM-104 Patriot -PAC-2 GEM-T | Germany United States | Surface-to-air missiles | 200 (+ 300 on option) | Framework agreement for up to 500 missiles approved in December 2023 for €3.01 billion. [62] The missiles will be assembled in Germany, and the main subcontractors will be MBDA, Bayern Chemie, TDW Gesellschaft für Wirksysteme, Sener Aerospacial and RTX. [63] Orders: | |
MIM-104 Patriot -PAC-3 MSE | United States | Surface-to-air missiles | 248 | Germany cleared by DSCA to purchase up to 600 missiles in August 2024. [67] In December 2024, the German parliament approved the purchase of 120 and 128 missiles in two different instances. [33] [34] | |
Air-to-air missiles | |||||
Meteor | United Kingdom Germany France Italy Spain Sweden | Air-to-air missiles | — (€521 million) | Approved for purchase in November 2024. [68] | |
AIM-120C AMRAAM | United States | Air-to-air missiles | 105 | Ordered with the F-35A. [69] | |
AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM | United States | Air-to-air missiles | — (969 planned) | In July 2023, the US State Department approved the sale of AIM-120C8 for €2.61 billion. It includes: 969 AIM-120C-8 + 12 guidance sections + Captive Air Training Missiles + support equipment. [70] In May 2024, the Parliamentary Budget Committee approved the purchase of an unknown quantity of missiles for €178 million. [71] | |
IRIS-T | Germany | Air-to-air missiles | 120 (+ 1,160 in option) | Ordered in December 2023. €108 million for the 120 first missiles in the LFK version (air-air). [72] Approval to modernise and maintain the IRIS-T missiles in December 2024. [73] | |
Air-to-ground missiles | |||||
Brimstone 3 | United Kingdom | Air-to-surface missiles | 379 | Framework agreement for 3,266 missiles approved in June 2024. [74] Orders: |
The equipment mentioned here is part of the program NNbS, ("Nah- und Nächstbereichs-schutz"), close air-support for the ground troops. At the moment, no decision has been made regarding the operator of those systems, it could go to the Bundeswehr or the Luftwaffe. In 2010, the German forces decided to retire the last 90 Flakpanzer Gepard. In 2012, the air defense of the Bundeswehr was completely disbanded. The Luftwaffe was to support the German forces with their Wiesel 2 Ozelot, and German soldiers had access to FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS.
This equipment described below is the most likely candidates that have been mentioned by the German military and by the German defence industry. More details can be found on the page "List of modern equipment of the German Army".
System | Image | Notes |
---|---|---|
Lockheed Martin F-35 | 8 additional being considered. [77] | |
AGM-158B JASSM-ER | 75 planned by the Bundeswehr. [78] | |
AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM | The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) asked for the Congress approval of potentially USD $2.90 billion in military sales for the German Air Force on the 19th of July 2023. [79] [80] This sale would include:
| |
IRIS-T SLS Mk III | ARGE NNbS (joint venture including Diehl Defence, Rheinmetall Electronics and Hensoldt Sensors) offered the following solution for the "Surface-to-air missile / SHORAD" phase of the program: [81]
| |
Skyranger 30 NNbS program (Nah- und Nächstbereichs-schutz) | Rheinmetall Air Defense offers this Boxer 8x8 equipped with an Oerlikon Skyranger 30 turret for the "SHORAD / C-RAM" phase of the program: [82] Weapons:
Sensors
| |
Patriot system maintenance |
| |
WRÜbwR Weltraumüberwachungsradars | Approval for the purchase of a space surveillance radar. [84] | |
Skyranger 30 NNbS program (Nah- und Nächstbereichs-schutz) |
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo that conducts the majority of the project through a joint holding company, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH. The NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency, representing the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, manages the project and is the prime customer.
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) fighter-bomber, the Tornado ECR SEAD aircraft and the Tornado ADV interceptor aircraft.
The GBU-12 Paveway II is an American aerial laser-guided bomb, based on the Mk 82 500 lb (230 kg) general-purpose bomb, but with the addition of a nose-mounted laser seeker and fins for guidance. A member of the Paveway series of weapons, Paveway II entered into service c. 1976. It is currently in service with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and various other air forces.
GBU-24 Paveway III or simply GBU-24 is a family of laser-guided bombs, a sub-group of the larger Raytheon Paveway III family of weapons. The Paveway guidance package consists of a seeker package attached to the nose of the weapon, and a wing kit attached to the rear to provide stability and greater range.
The Mark 82 is a 500-pound (230 kg) unguided, low-drag general-purpose bomb, part of the United States Mark 80 series. The explosive filling is usually tritonal, though other compositions have sometimes been used.
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather precision-guided munitions (PGMs). JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, giving them a published range of up to 15 nautical miles (28 km). JDAM-equipped bombs range from 500 to 2,000 pounds. The JDAM's guidance system was jointly developed by the United States Air Force and United States Navy, hence the "joint" in JDAM. When installed on a bomb, the JDAM kit is given a GBU identifier, superseding the Mark 80 or BLU nomenclature of the bomb to which it is attached.
Paveway is a series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs).
The IRIS-T is a family of short range infrared homing air-to-air and short to medium range surface-to-air missiles. It also is called AIM-2000.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is in service with nine nations: United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Austria, with orders for all nine customers still pending as of September 2017. The aircraft has, as of 2016, been provided in a basic air-defense form and has been upgraded to newer production standards which include internal IRST, air-to-ground precision strike capability, and HMSS helmets. Most of the major systems including the CAPTOR radar and the Defence Aids Sub-System (DASS) are expected to be improved and updated over time, with the radar being updated to an AESA, being the CAPTOR-E/CAESAR, of which the Kuwait Air Force will be the inaugural operator, with first deliveries of their 28 new-built aircraft to commence in 2019.
The German Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Germany. After the reunification of West and East Germany in 1990, it integrated parts of the air force of the former German Democratic Republic, which itself had been founded in 1956 as part of the National People's Army. There is no organizational continuity between the current German Air Force and the former Luftwaffe of the Wehrmacht founded in 1935, which was completely disbanded in 1945/46 after World War II. The term Luftwaffe that is used for both the historic and the current German air force is the German-language generic designation of any air force.
A general-purpose bomb is an air-dropped bomb intended as a compromise between blast damage, penetration, and fragmentation in explosive effect. They are designed to be effective against enemy troops, vehicles, and buildings.
The BLU-109/B is a hardened bunker buster penetration bomb used by the United States Air Force. As with other "bunker busters", it is intended to penetrate concrete shelters and other hardened structures before exploding. In addition to the US, it is part of the armament of the air forces of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates.
A guided bomb is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP).
The Marinefliegerkommando is the naval air arm of the German Navy. It is aircraft flown by the Navy of Germany, and mostly consists of helicopters and fixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft, as well as types of drones. Naval helicopters can operate from ships, and some of their roles include utility and supply tasks, search and rescue, and ASW or naval warfare. The fixed-wing aircraft operate from land bases but will patrol over open water. The Navy also operates training aircraft and unmanned drones. Naval aviation is subordinate to the German Navy, separate from the German Air Force.
A precision-guided munition (PGM), also called a smart weapon, smart munition, or smart bomb, is a type of weapon system that integrates advanced guidance and control systems, such as GPS, laser guidance, or infrared sensors, with various types of munitions, typically missiles or artillery shells, to allow for high-accuracy strikes against designated targets. PGMs are designed to precisely hit a predetermined target, typically with a margin of error that is far smaller than conventional unguided munitions. Unlike unguided munitions, PGMs use active or passive control mechanisms capable of steering the weapon towards its intended target. PGMs are capable of mid-flight course corrections, allowing them to adjust and hit the intended target even if conditions change. PGMs can be deployed from various platforms, including aircraft, naval ships, ground vehicles, ground-based launchers, and UAVs. PGMs are primarily used in military operations to achieve greater accuracy, particularly in complex or sensitive environments, to reduce the risk to operators, lessen civilian harm, and minimize collateral damage. PGMs are considered an element of modern warfare to reduce unintended damage and civilian casualties. It is widely accepted that PGMs significantly outperform unguided weapons, particularly against fortified or mobile targets.
The GBU-53/B StormBreaker, previously known as the Small Diameter Bomb II, is an American air-launched, precision-guided glide bomb.
The Executive Transport Wing of the Federal Ministry of Defence is a flying formation of the German Air Force with a wide variety of tasks. Occasionally it is ambiguously listed as the Special Air Missions Wing in English language articles. The wing is based at Cologne Bonn Airport with Berlin Tegel Airport used as a location for its helicopters. It is planned to bring the two operating locations together at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
Hundreds of books, magazines and articles have been written about the Luftwaffe. A select few are listed here.