The German Air Force is set to receive its first 5th-gen fighter, the F-35A Lightning II. When Berlin purchased the aircraft in 2022, it also requested up to 75 AGM-158B/B2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) cruise missiles. However, Germany has not yet purchased these missiles, and now it has been confirmed that, at least initially, new German aircraft will not be equipped with this weapon.
As reported in the hartpunkt, this information was confirmed to them by The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr, BAAINBw).
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Moreover, interestingly, one of the materials on the official website of the Bundeswehr for January 2026 indicates that Germany has allegedly already purchased JASSM-ER. At the same time, BAAINBw emphasized that "the purchase of JASSM-ER has been postponed indefinitely in favor of other projects."
From this, we can conclude that the Germans directed the funds that could have gone to JASSM-ER to other programs. It is not currently known what was determined to be a higher priority than the purchase of long-range weapons for fighters.
Instead, the decision to postpone the purchase of JASSM-ER was made in connection with "a sharp change in the geopolitical situation" due to russia's invasion to Ukraine in February 2022, which led to a "comprehensive restructuring of the German air force potential".
Earlier, Defense Express reported that the renewal of russia's nuclear deterrence in Europe is already closer - the first F-35 for the Luftwaffe has reached the "finish line".
We also wrote, that Germany tested torpedo-tube-launched USV which could help counter russia in Baltic Sea.
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