Cost of transforming nuclear aircrafts to modern counterparts estimated at €800 million
The cost of modernizing a military airport in the Eifel region for US stealth jets has risen significantly from an initial estimate of 1.2 billion euros to around 2 billion euros. This increase is primarily attributed to systemic issues in Germany’s defense procurement process and market pressures on suppliers.
The German government has ordered 35 F-35 fighter jets for use in NATO’s nuclear deterrence. As part of this project, the German Armed Forces have ordered the modernization of the military airport to accommodate these jets. However, the surging costs are a result of broader challenges in defense procurement, including bureaucratic inefficiencies, delayed project timelines, and limited competition in the defense sector.
Germany's defense procurement system is known for being cumbersome, with lengthy approval processes, which have historically resulted in significant cost overruns and delays in military projects. Additionally, the surge in defense spending following Germany’s historic commitment of €100 billion to overhaul its military and increase defense budgets to 2% of GDP has created high demand and backlog for defense contractors, pushing prices higher due to lack of competition and capacity constraints.
The ministry spokeswoman stated that delaying the project to prevent higher costs is not an option due to the inflexible 2027 deployment deadline for the F-35. The project is for nuclear deterrence and involves the modernization of a military airport to accommodate 35 US stealth jets.
The increased costs are due to the unique challenges of the project and potential risk surcharges. The total costs will be determined upon completion of the project in 2027. Further cost increases, such as those due to personnel reinforcements to meet the "extremely ambitious timeframe," cannot be ruled out.
In late June, the ministry acknowledged that the costs would increase by a three-digit million amount. A contract with the general contractor for the new framework is scheduled to be signed in August, but the exact costs are still not fixed due to the project’s unique challenges. The cost explosion is attributed to the high security requirements imposed by the USA during the project.
These F-35 fighter jets are intended for deployment of US nuclear bombs stored in Büchel in case of an emergency. The ministry spokeswoman stated that even a twice as long realization period in the normal procedure would increase the costs. Thus, the increase reflects systemic issues in Germany’s military modernization efforts amid a steep ramp-up of investment combined with market pressures on suppliers and bureaucratic hurdles rather than isolated cost factors specific to the airport project itself.
The German Armed Forces haveordered the modernization of the military airport to accommodateF-35 fighter jets, which require advanced technology for their service. The increased costs of the modernization project are attributed not only to the high security requirements imposed by the USA but also to systemic issues in Germany's military modernization efforts.
