Germany wants their air force more relevant:
At the end of 2017 Germany completed conversion of the first 12 (of 48) Typhoon fighters to handle ground support. Specifically this means being able to use a targeting pod to carry and deliver up to four GBU-48 smart bombs.
The Typhoon was a Cold War design intended for air superiority missions.
If I was completely rude, I'd ask who on the ground the German Typhoons are supposed to support?
But in fact these planes will probably just be another capability that the German air force is unable to carry out because of lack of readiness.
Years ago, Germany decided to make their military a smaller but effective power projection force in response to the post-Cold War world.
But rather than fighting alongside America far from Europe, Germany just made their military smaller. Much smaller. And largely unready for combat.
So just as Russia is acting more aggressive, signaling the end of the post-Cold War world, meaning that the original role of the Typhoon--battling Soviets for air supremacy over Europe--is useful again to battle Russians for air superiority over Europe, Germany is adapting the plane to be relevant in the post-Cold War world.
So we can expect Germany to equip their air force with top of the line air superiority fighters sometime in 2030?
And they'll buy spare parts for those planes in what? The year 2040?
