German Air Force
The Luftwaffe was refounded on 9 January 1956 as a deliberately new service, constitutionally and institutionally separate from the Wehrmacht air arm that shared its name — and seventy years on it is one of the largest air forces in NATO Europe, roughly 27,600 people flying about 230 combat aircraft, holding NATO’s German nuclear-sharing mission at Büchel, running Europe’s largest A400M fleet from Wunstorf, and rebuilding itself under the Zeitenwende after two decades in which its own parliamentary commissioner kept reporting that it could not put enough aircraft in the air.
The Luftwaffe story: three air forces, one name, and the argument about which of them counts
1910–1918: the flying corps (Fliegertruppe), the first strategic bombing campaign and the myth of the ace
German military aviation began in the army, not in an air force. The Prussian and Bavarian flying corps (Fliegertruppe)n were formed in 1910–13 as a branch of the army engineers, and on 8 October 1916 they were reorganised as the Luftstreitkräfte under a Kommandierender General der Luftstreitkräfte, Ernst von Hoeppner — the closest thing to an independent air command any power had at the time. The First World War produced two German firsts that still shape the subject: the Jagdstaffel and the strategic bombing of cities. Gotha G.V and Riesenflugzeug raids on Britain from 1917 killed 857 people, part of a wider air campaign that killed 1,414 including the Zeppelin raids and forced the British to build an air defence system and, in 1918, an independent air force. It also produced the ace cult: Manfred von Richthofen with 80 victories, Oswald Boelcke with 40 and a set of eight rules, the Dicta Boelcke, that are still taught. The Treaty of Versailles abolished German military aviation entirely in 1920.
1935–1945: the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich, and why the Bundeswehr does not claim it
The Luftwaffe of 1935–45 was built in secret through the 1920s and early 1930s, unveiled by Hermann Göring on 1 March 1935 in open breach of Versailles, and blooded over Spain with the Legion Condor, whose bombing of Guernica on 26 April 1937 killed somewhere between 150 and 1,650 people — the figure is still contested — and taught Europe what air power meant. It was designed as a tactical force to support ground campaigns and it was superb at that in 1939–41. It was never designed to win a war on its own, which is what it was asked to do over Britain in 1940 and could not. From 1943 it was destroyed in the defence of the Reich; from 1944 its jets, the Me 262 and Me 163, arrived too late, in too small numbers, and were built in part by slave labour at Mittelbau-Dora and elsewhere. The Bundeswehr does not claim this force as its ancestor. It says so in writing, in the Traditionserlasse of 1982 and 2018.
1956–1970: rearmament, 916 Starfighters and the Witwenmacher
The Bundeswehr’s Luftwaffe was founded on 9 January 1956, eleven years after the old one was dissolved, and it was a NATO air force from the start: American aircraft, American doctrine, American training, and pilots sent to Texas and Arizona to learn. The rearmament was enormous and it went badly. Germany bought 916 Lockheed F-104 Starfighters — more than any other operator — and adapted an aircraft designed as a clear-weather high-altitude interceptor to low-level strike over northern Europe in bad weather, with crews converting straight from subsonic types. 292 were lost and 116 pilots killed, 108 of them German and eight American. The press called it der Witwenmacher, the widow-maker, and der fliegende Sarg. The 1975–76 Lockheed bribery investigations found that the company had paid tens of millions of dollars in commissions in several countries; the German parliamentary inquiry could not establish that the German purchase decision had been bought, and the archives on that point remain incomplete.
1970–1990: Phantoms, Tornados, Pershings and the long watch on the inner-German border
The force that came out of the 1970s was the one the Cold War was actually fought with: F-4F Phantoms at Wittmund, Neuburg, Pferdsfeld and Rheine-Hopsten, RF-4Es at Bremgarten and Leck, Alpha Jets replacing the Fiat G.91, and from 1980 the Panavia Tornado, the Anglo-German-Italian aircraft that gave the Luftwaffe a genuine all-weather low-level strike capability. The Luftwaffe also owned the ground-based air defence — Nike Hercules and Hawk belts along the central front — and, from the late 1960s, the Pershing 1A ballistic missiles of two Flugkörpergeschwader, German-crewed with American warheads, which were the most politically explosive things the service has ever held. They were not covered by the 1987 INF Treaty, which bound only the superpowers; Chancellor Helmut Kohl undertook unilaterally in August 1987 to dismantle them once Washington and Moscow had eliminated theirs, and they were destroyed in 1991. At its peak the Luftwaffe had something in the order of 100,000 people and a combat fleet several times the present one; the whole structure existed to fight a war on German soil that everyone expected to go nuclear within days.
1990–2013: absorbing the Nationale Volksarmee, and the first shots fired since 1945
On 3 October 1990 the Luftwaffe absorbed the Luftstreitkräfte der NVA, roughly 700 aircraft and about 20,800 soldiers, with some 8,000 civilian staff. Almost all of it was scrapped, sold or given away — 251 MiG-21s, 65 MiG-23s, 54 Su-22s — but 24 MiG-29s were kept, brought up to Western standards as the MiG-29G, flown in Luftwaffe markings from Laage for thirteen years, used as dissimilar-combat opposition by every air force that could get near them, and sold to Poland in 2003–04 for a symbolic price. In 1991 German Alpha Jets deployed to Turkey; in 1995 Tornado ECRs flew the first German combat missions since 1945 over Bosnia; in 1999 they flew in Operation Allied Force against Serbia. That was the argument that mattered: whether a German air force could be used at all, and the answer, once given, has not been withdrawn.
2014–2026: readiness scandals, the Zeitenwende, the F-35 and the argument that is not settled
The 2010s were miserable. Annual reports by the Wehrbeauftragte des Deutschen Bundestages — the parliamentary commissioner, who is entitled to be blunt in a way no ministry is — documented a service that could not keep enough aircraft flying: at one point only a handful of the Eurofighter fleet was reported as fully mission-capable, and Euro Hawk was cancelled in 2013 after roughly 700 million euros because the aircraft could not be certified to fly in European airspace. Then came 24 February 2022. The 100-billion-euro Sondervermögen bought 35 F-35As for the nuclear mission, 60 CH-47F Chinooks, six IRIS-T SLM fire units, Arrow 3, 20 more Eurofighters and the Eurofighter EK. The first German F-35A flew on 8 September 2026 and was handed over in Texas on 18 September. Whether any of this has yet produced an air force that could fight a European war is the question the Zeitenwende was supposed to answer, and it has not answered it.
The German Air Force in numbers
Service
- Native name
- LuftwaffeLiterally "air weapon". The name is the same as that of the 1935–45 service, but the Bundeswehr’s Luftwaffe was founded separately on 9 January 1956 and is not its legal or institutional successor. The service badge is a stylised eagle’s wing, the Schwinge; the national marking is the Eisernes Kreuz laid down by Federal President Theodor Heuss in 1956.
- Founded
- 9 January 1956German military aviation runs in three separate blocks: the army flying corps (Fliegertruppe) of 1910–13, reorganised as the Luftstreitkräfte in October 1916 and abolished by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920; the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich, publicly announced on 1 March 1935 and dissolved with the Wehrmacht in 1945; and the Bundeswehr’s Luftwaffe from 1956. The Nationale Volksarmee’s Luftstreitkräfte/Luftverteidigung existed from 1956 to 3 October 1990, when it was absorbed.
- Part of
- BundeswehrOne of the Bundeswehr’s military services alongside the Heer, the Marine, the Streitkräftebasis, the Zentraler Sanitätsdienst and the Cyber- und Informationsraum. Naval aviation belongs to the Marine and army aviation to the Heer; the Luftwaffe holds all German ground-based air defence, which it took over from the army in 2012.
- Headquarters
- Kommando Luftwaffe, Berlin-GatowThe air staff sits in the General-Steinhoff-Kaserne on the former RAF Gatow airfield in Berlin, alongside the Militärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow. The force-generating headquarters, the Luftwaffentruppenkommando, is at the Luftwaffenkaserne Wahn next to Cologne/Bonn airport.
- High commands
-
- Air Component Command — air operations, national air defence and the standing Joint Force Air Component headquarters, Kalkar and Uedem
- Luftwaffentruppenkommando — every flying wing, the air defence missile wing and the support units, Köln-Wahn
- Weltraumkommando der Bundeswehr — space, Uedem
- Luftfahrtamt der Bundeswehr — airworthiness, licensing and flight safety, Köln-Wahn
- Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation der Bundeswehr — stood up 1 August 2025 for all Bundeswehr aircraft, Köln-Wahn
The Inspekteur der Luftwaffe commands from the Kommando Luftwaffe at Berlin-Gatow and reports to the Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr. The Luftfahrtamt was placed under the Inspekteur on 1 October 2024, having previously answered to the ministry.
- Chief of staff
- GenLt Holger NeumannIn post since 27 May 2025, the seventeenth Inspekteur der Luftwaffe. A former Tornado pilot of Jagdbombergeschwader 34 at Memmingen.
- Aerobatic team
- NoneThe Bundeswehr has no aerobatic display team and has never had one — a deliberate post-1956 choice, and one of the clearest differences between the Luftwaffe and almost every other major air force. Display flying is done by solo Eurofighter demonstrations from the operational wings.
Strength
- Military personnel
- about 27,60027,642 soldiers in January 2025, of whom 2,829 were women — the second-largest Bundeswehr service after the Heer. The Luftwaffe was roughly four times this size at the height of the Cold War, in the order of 100,000 people; Germany does not publish a single audited peak figure. The 2011 Neuausrichtung set a ceiling of 23,000 military posts; the 2016 Trendwende Personal abandoned the ceiling, and the service has been growing slowly since.
- Civilian staff
- about 5,950 plannedThe planned establishment of civil servants and employees attached to the Luftwaffe, concentrated in maintenance and the airfield fire services. Germany does not publish a monthly audited civilian figure per service.
- Combat aircraft
- about 231
- Eurofighter Typhoon — 141
- Tornado IDS and Recce — 68
- Tornado ECR — 21
- F-35A Lightning II — 1
On charge, not available. The Wehrbeauftragte’s annual reports have repeatedly put the share of aircraft actually mission-capable far below the fleet total, and the Tornado figure includes airframes held for spares recovery as the type runs down towards its 2030 out-of-service date.
- Total aircraft
- roughly 440Combat, transport, tanker, government transport, training, helicopter and unmanned fleets together, counting only airframes on the German charge. It excludes the ten A330 MRTTs of the Multinational MRTT Fleet, which are owned by NATO’s procurement agency and carry Netherlands registrations, and the T-6A Texan IIs at Sheppard, which are American aircraft.
- Serviceability
- persistently contestedThe single most reported German defence statistic of the 2010s. Bundestag answers in 2017–18 put the number of Eurofighters ready for operations in the single figures at points in the year, against a fleet of more than 120; the ministry argued that the figure counted full weapons-system availability rather than flyable aircraft. Both were true, which is why the argument never resolved. The Wehrbeauftragte’s reports remain the best public source.
- Defence budget
- €86.5 bn (2025, all services)Einzelplan 14, the defence chapter of the federal budget, rose to €62.4 billion for 2025, and a further €24.1 billion was drawn from the 100-billion-euro Sondervermögen Bundeswehr created in June 2022, giving €86.5 billion and a NATO-counted 2.4 per cent of GDP. Germany does not publish a separate air force budget line; aircraft are bought through the BAAINBw procurement office and approved item by item by the Bundestag budget committee, which is why almost every German aircraft order has a datable parliamentary vote behind it.
Infrastructure
- Air bases
- 9 Fliegerhorste plus 3 shared civil airports
- Fighter bases: Büchel, Nörvenich, Neuburg, Wittmundhafen, Laage, Schleswig-Jagel
- Transport and helicopters: Wunstorf, Holzdorf, Laupheim
- Shared with civil operators: Köln/Bonn, Berlin Brandenburg, Rostock-Laage
- Geilenkirchen is NATO’s, not Germany’s; Ramstein and Spangdahlem are the United States Air Force’s
The Luftwaffe’s own count. Hohn, Lechfeld, Diepholz and Manching remain in use for dispersal, maintenance and flight test without hosting a flying wing. More than forty Fliegerhorste have been given up since 1990, including the whole Nationale Volksarmee network.
- Quick Reaction Alert
- Two bases, 24/7Northern alert is held by Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 71 "Richthofen", southern alert by Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74 at Neuburg. The northern pair sat at Laage from January 2022 while Wittmundhafen was rebuilt and moved back on 13 July 2026. Alert aircraft are controlled by the Nationales Lage- und Führungszentrum für Sicherheit im Luftraum at Uedem, a joint civil-military centre, and by the Einsatzführungsbereiche at Erndtebrück and Schönewalde.
- Nuclear role
- Büchel, under NATO sharingGermany neither confirms nor denies that American B61 bombs are held at Büchel, but the presence of the United States Air Force 702nd Munitions Support Squadron there is not denied, and Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 is openly described as the only German flying unit trained for the nuclear mission. The vaults built into the shelters can hold up to 44 weapons; the Federation of American Scientists has estimated the actual number at about 20. The role passes from the Tornado to the F-35A.
- Longest runway
- 2,507 m at BüchelThe longest runway at a Luftwaffe fighter base, and modest by international standards because German fighter bases were built for dispersal and short-field operation. Longer strips in the German order of battle belong to other people or other roles: about 3,050 m at Geilenkirchen, which is NATO’s, 3,200 m at Ramstein, which is American, 2,940 m at Manching, which belongs to the trials establishment, and 4,000 m at Berlin Brandenburg, which is civil.
- Ground-based air defence
- Patriot, IRIS-T SLM, Arrow 3The Luftwaffe took over all German ground-based air defence in 2012 when the army’s Heeresflugabwehrtruppe was disbanded. Flugabwehrraketengeschwader 1 at Husum holds the Patriot force through Flugabwehrraketengruppen 21, 24 and 26; Flugabwehrraketengruppe 61 at Todendorf, which has been under Dutch operational command since 4 April 2018, holds IRIS-T SLM and Ozelot; the first Arrow 3 battery went into service at Holzdorf on 3 December 2025.
How the German Air Force is organised
One service command at Berlin-Gatow over four subordinate commands. The German oddity is that the Luftwaffe owns the country’s entire ground-based air defence — Patriot, IRIS-T SLM and Arrow 3 — because the army’s air defence branch was abolished in 2012 and its equipment handed over.
Kommando Luftwaffe
The Inspekteur der Luftwaffe and the air staff in the General-Steinhoff-Kaserne at Berlin-Gatow: doctrine, programme, budget and the link to the Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr. The Luftfahrtamt der Bundeswehr reports directly to the Inspekteur, a change made on 1 October 2024 to keep airworthiness and flight safety technically independent while giving the service owner responsibility for them.
Air Component Command
Plans and runs German air and space operations from the Von-Seydlitz-Kaserne at Kalkar and the site at Uedem. It grew out of the Zentrum Luftoperationen and folded the national air defence control centre, the space situational awareness centre and the air force operations centre into a single operations room. Its Joint Force Air Component headquarters, previously activated only when needed, has been run as a standing headquarters since 2025.
Luftwaffentruppenkommando
Owns every flying wing, the air defence missile wing, the schools and the support units, and is responsible for having trained and equipped forces available. It does not command them on operations — that is done by NATO or EU headquarters, or nationally by the Einsatzführungskommando. Stood up in its present form on 1 July 2015.
Weltraumkommando der Bundeswehr
Brings the Bundeswehr’s space activities under one roof, in two branches: space situational awareness, and the planning and conduct of space operations. Created in 2021 and located with the Air Component Command at Uedem.
Luftfahrtamt der Bundeswehr
Certifies Bundeswehr aircraft, writes the flight operations and air traffic rules, licenses aircrew and technicians, sets aeromedical standards and records flight movements. Its General Flugsicherheit can inspect any unit. Subordinated to the Inspekteur der Luftwaffe on 1 October 2024.
Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation der Bundeswehr
Stood up on 1 August 2025 in the Luftwaffenkaserne at Köln-Wahn, with military and civilian staff from every Bundeswehr service, and responsible for the continuing airworthiness of every Bundeswehr aircraft — fixed wing, rotary wing and unmanned.
Taktische Luftwaffengeschwader
Six tactical air force wings: 31 "Boelcke" at Nörvenich, 33 at Büchel, 51 "Immelmann" at Schleswig-Jagel, 71 "Richthofen" at Wittmundhafen, 73 "Steinhoff" at Laage and 74 at Neuburg. Four fly the Eurofighter, two fly the Tornado, and Büchel is converting to the F-35A.
Air Transport Wing 62 and Flugbereitschaft BMVg
The A400M wing at Wunstorf and the ministerial transport wing at Köln-Wahn and Berlin Brandenburg. Both are tasked on operations through the European Air Transport Command at Eindhoven, the multinational airlift command Germany joined with France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy.
Hubschraubergeschwader 64
The Luftwaffe’s only helicopter wing, with its headquarters, flying group and technical group at Laupheim, its air transport group at Holzdorf near Schönewalde, a maintenance squadron at Diepholz and the CH-53 simulator at Bückeburg. It flies the CH-53GA, GS and GE and the H145M LUH SOF for the army’s special forces, and will receive the CH-47F.
Flugabwehrraketengeschwader 1
The Patriot wing, with 255 established posts at Husum and its firing groups at Sanitz, Bad Sülze and Husum plus the air defence training centre. Flugabwehrraketengruppe 61 at Todendorf, which holds IRIS-T SLM and Ozelot, has been under the Dutch Defensie Grondgebonden Luchtverdedigingscommando since 4 April 2018.
Einsatzführungsdienst
The radar and control reporting organisation: Einsatzführungsbereich 2 at Erndtebrück and Einsatzführungsbereich 3 at Schönewalde, with fixed HADR, RRP-117 and Ground Master 406F radars, deployable RAT-31DL, and twenty ASR-S airfield surveillance radars going in across the Fliegerhorste.
Objektschutzregiment der Luftwaffe "Friesland"
The Luftwaffe’s ground combat regiment, which secures deployed airfields and has served in almost every German overseas operation. Based at Schortens on the former Fliegerhorst Jever in Friesland.
Schools and training commands
The Offizierschule der Luftwaffe at Roth, the Unteroffizierschule at Appen and Heide, the Luftwaffenausbildungsbataillon at Roth and Germersheim, the Technisches Ausbildungszentrum at Kaufbeuren and Faßberg, and the overseas commands: the Taktisches Ausbildungskommando der Luftwaffe USA at Sheppard AFB in Texas, the 3. Deutsche Luftwaffenausbildungsstaffel at Goodyear in Arizona, weapons systems officers at NAS Pensacola and the air defence training centre at Fort Bliss.
Waffensystemunterstützungszentren
Depot-level support for the fleets: Waffensystemunterstützungszentrum 1 at Manching, alongside the Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61 flight test centre, and Waffensystemunterstützungszentrum 2 at Diepholz. The Zentrum Elektronischer Kampf Fliegende Waffensysteme at Kleinaitingen, next to Lechfeld, handles airborne electronic warfare.
What the German Air Force flies today
Every type on charge, linked to its Book of Beasts page where one exists. Counts are aircraft on the books, not aircraft available on a given day.
| Type | Role | In service | Since | Units | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1/2/3AIn service | Multirole fighter; national quick reaction alert | 141 | 2003 | Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31 "Boelcke", Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 71 "Richthofen", Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 73 "Steinhoff", Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74 | 141 on charge in 2026: 33 Tranche 1, 77 Tranche 2 and 31 Tranche 3A.
MoreGermany ordered 180 in three tranches, cut the third from 68 to 31 aircraft as Tranche 3A in July 2009, and took delivery of 143 between 2003 and 2019; two Tranche 2 aircraft were destroyed in a mid-air collision over Mecklenburg on 24 June 2019. The 33 Tranche 1 aircraft are being replaced one for one by 38 Tranche 4 machines under project Quadriga. |
|
| Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIIn service | Multirole stealth fighter; NATO nuclear-sharing strike | 1 | 2026 | Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 | One aircraft, 35+01, handed over at Fort Worth on 18 September 2026 after its first flight on 8 September.
MoreThirty-five were ordered on 14 December 2022 for about €10 billion from the Sondervermögen. The first eight stay in the United States for aircrew and technician training at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Fort Smith, Arkansas; aircraft for Germany are expected at Büchel from 2027. |
|
| Panavia Tornado IDS and RecceIn service | Interdiction, strike and tactical reconnaissance; NATO nuclear-sharing strike | 68 | 1980 | Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33, Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 "Immelmann" | 68 Tornado IDS and reconnaissance aircraft on charge in 2026, out of 334 delivered to Germany from 1980 for the Luftwaffe, the Marineflieger and the test establishments.
MoreThe count falls every year and includes airframes held for spares recovery; the type goes out of service in 2030. |
|
| Panavia Tornado ECRIn service | Suppression and destruction of enemy air defences; electronic reconnaissance | 21 | 1990 | Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 "Immelmann" | 21 of the 35 Tornado ECRs delivered to Germany from 1990 remain on charge in 2026. The ECR role passes to 15 Eurofighter EK aircraft, contracted in October 2025 for €1.21 billion. | |
| Airbus A400M AtlasIn service | Strategic and tactical airlift, air-to-air refuelling, aeromedical evacuation | 53 | 2014 | Air Transport Wing 62 | All 53 ordered have been delivered. The first arrived at Wunstorf in December 2014 and the last, 54+63, landed there at 12:30 on 17 April 2026, eleven years after the first.
MoreIt is the largest A400M fleet in the world; the other operators are France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Belgium, Luxembourg and Malaysia, with Kazakhstan on order. |
|
| Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super HerculesIn service | Tactical airlift for special operations | 3 | 2022 | — | Three C-130J-30 transports, all delivered by April 2024 alongside three KC-130J tankers. | |
| Lockheed Martin KC-130J Super HerculesIn service | Tactical air-to-air refuelling, especially of helicopters | 3 | 2022 | — | Three KC-130J tankers, the last delivered in April 2024, completing the six-aircraft German half of the binational squadron. | |
| Airbus A330 MRTT (Multinational MRTT Fleet)In service | Air-to-air refuelling, strategic transport, aeromedical evacuation | 0 | 2020 | DDO/DtA Multinational MRTT Fleet | Germany owns none of these aircraft.
MoreThey belong to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, carry Netherlands registrations and are flown by the Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit. Germany funds 5,500 of the fleet’s 11,000 annual flight hours — the largest single share, equivalent to five of the ten aircraft — and provides about 62 per cent of the unit’s personnel. Nine aircraft were in service in February 2026, the tenth was due in September 2026, and the fleet is to reach twelve by 2029. |
|
| Airbus A350-900 ACJIn service | Government and VIP transport | 3 | 2020 | 2. Lufttransportstaffel | Three aircraft, 10+01 to 10+03, ordered in January 2019 at about €180 million each and roughly €280 million each after the VIP conversion and special equipment.
MoreThey replaced the two A340-313X VIP aircraft, which went in 2023 after repeated technical failures on ministerial and chancellery flights. |
|
| Airbus A321LRIn service | Personnel and aeromedical transport | 2 | 2022 | 1. Lufttransportstaffel | Two aircraft, 15+10 and 15+11, delivered in June and August 2022 after a procurement that took only two years — unusually fast by German standards and explicitly presented as such. | |
| Airbus A321-200In service | Government and personnel transport | 1 | 2018 | 1. Lufttransportstaffel | One aircraft, 15+04, a former airline machine taken on in 2018. | |
| Airbus A319CJ and A319 Open SkiesIn service | VIP transport; Open Skies treaty observation | 3 | 2010 | 1. Lufttransportstaffel, 2. Lufttransportstaffel | Three aircraft, 15+01 to 15+03.
MoreTwo are VIP transports; the third, delivered in June 2019, is fitted for observation flights under the Treaty on Open Skies and carries the words "Offener Himmel" on its fin. |
|
| Bombardier Global 6000In service | Government and VIP transport | 3 | 2019 | 1. Lufttransportstaffel | Three aircraft, 14+05 to 14+07, delivered by December 2019. | |
| Bombardier Global 5000In service | Government and VIP transport | 3 | 2011 | 1. Lufttransportstaffel | Three of the four delivered from 2011 remain. | |
| Airbus Helicopters H145M LUH SOFIn service | Special forces transport and support | 15 | 2015 | 4. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64 | Fifteen delivered from 2015 and operational since 2017; five more are being taken from a later Bundeswehr order for 62 H145Ms. | |
| Airbus Helicopters H145M LKH SOFIn service | Special forces transport and support | 2 | 2026 | 4. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64 | Deliveries began in 2026 against an order for five; at least two were on charge in September 2026. The count moves month to month and the Bundeswehr does not publish a running total. | |
| Sikorsky CH-53GA, CH-53GS and CH-53GEIn service | Medium transport, combat search and rescue, aeromedical evacuation | 66 | 2013 | 1. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64, 2. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64, 3. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64 | 66 of the 112 delivered from 1972 remain.
MoreThe Bundeswehr gives the split as 40 CH-53GA, 20 CH-53GS and 6 CH-53GE; other accounts give 22 GS, and the sub-totals do not reconcile cleanly with the 66 on charge. The fleet passed from the Heer to the Luftwaffe in the 2013 Fähigkeitstransfer Hubschrauber and reaches the end of its service life around 2030. |
|
| Eurocopter AS532U2 Cougar Mk IIIn service | Government and VIP helicopter transport | 3 | 1997 | 3. Lufttransportstaffel | Three aircraft, 82+01 to 82+03, in service since 1997. | |
| Northrop T-38C TalonIn service | Advanced jet pilot training | 41 | 1968 | — | 41 of 46 delivered remain.
MoreThe aircraft belong to the Luftwaffe but fly in United States Air Force markings and on American registrations, because they are pooled into the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training programme. |
|
| Beechcraft T-6A Texan IIIn service | Basic and intermediate jet pilot training | 0 | 2001 | — | Germany owns none. The T-6As at Sheppard belong to the United States Air Force; Germany pays a share of the cost proportional to the number of German students on the course. | |
| Grob G 120TP-AIn service | Flight screening and elementary pilot training | 5 | 2013 | — | Five aircraft, provided by Grob Aircraft under a service contract rather than owned by the Luftwaffe, and flown at Goodyear in Arizona. | |
| IAI Heron TP (German Heron TP)In service | Medium-altitude long-endurance reconnaissance; armed capability | 7 | 2024 | Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 "Immelmann" | Leased from Israel Aerospace Industries through Airbus under a 2018 Bundestag decision and in service since 2024.
MoreSources differ on the fleet: reporting in June 2025 described five leased aircraft plus three bought government-to-government, six of them at Jagel and two at Tel Nof, while reporting in December 2025 described seven aircraft, all in Germany, on a nine-year contract worth about €900 million, with three more planned. The 2018 lease itself was reported at US$600 million. |
|
| MIM-104 PatriotIn service | Long-range ground-based air and missile defence | 7 | 1989 | Flugabwehrraketengruppe 26 | Seven fire units on charge.
MoreGermany held twelve at the start of the war in Ukraine; three had gone to Kyiv by July 2024 and the federal government decided in August 2025 to hand over two more, with the United States promising accelerated deliveries of newly built systems in return. Of the seven that remain, two are deployed in Poland and one is tied up in training and industry work, so five are in Germany. Four more were ordered in March 2024 and four in July 2024. |
|
| IRIS-T SLMIn service | Medium-range ground-based air defence | 1 | 2024 | — | One fire unit on charge.
MoreSix were contracted in June 2023 for about €950 million from the Sondervermögen, with two more on option; the first was formally commissioned on 4 September 2024, the first unit in German national configuration was handed to Flugabwehrraketengruppe 61 at Todendorf on 13 February 2026, and series deliveries run to 2027. |
|
| Arrow 3In service | Exo-atmospheric ballistic missile defence | 1 | 2025 | Arrow weapon system battery | One battery in service.
MoreThe contract was signed on 23 November 2023 for about €4 billion, rising to roughly €5 billion with sustainment, after Bundestag budget committee approval on 18 October 2023. Three batteries are planned, with full capability by the end of the decade. |
|
| Wiesel 2 OzelotIn service | Very short-range ground-based air defence | 3 | 2001 | — | Three systems with Flugabwehrraketengruppe 61. |
On order
| Type | Ordered | First delivery | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIOn order | 34 | 2026 | Thirty-five ordered on 14 December 2022 for about €10 billion from the Sondervermögen Bundeswehr; the first, 35+01, was handed over at Fort Worth on 18 September 2026, leaving 34 to come.
MoreThe first eight remain in the United States for training at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas; aircraft for Germany are expected at Büchel from 2027. They replace the Tornado in the NATO nuclear-sharing role, which ends for the Tornado in 2030. |
|
| Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 4 (Quadriga)On order | 38 | 2026 | Thirty-eight aircraft approved by the Bundestag on 5 November 2020 and contracted on 11 November 2020, to replace the 33 Tranche 1 machines one for one with five spare.
MoreThe first Quadriga aircraft began flight testing in July 2026. They carry the Captor-E active electronically scanned array radar that the Tranche 1 never had. |
|
| Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 5On order | 20 | 2031 | Twenty aircraft for about €3.75 billion, approved by the Bundestag budget committee on 8 October 2025 and announced by Airbus on 15 October 2025, for delivery between 2031 and 2034.
MoreThe same package funded the €1.21 billion Eurofighter EK conversion. |
|
| Eurofighter EKOn order | 15 | Thirty-five aircraft in two steps — fifteen from the Tranche 4 Quadriga batch and twenty from the Tranche 5 order — equipped for the suppression and destruction of enemy air defences, taking over from the Tornado ECR.
MoreThe €1.21 billion conversion was contracted in October 2025 alongside the Tranche 5 order; the electronic warfare suite is built around Saab’s AREXIS and Helsing’s Cirra. Germany would be the only European operator of a dedicated SEAD Eurofighter. |
||
| Boeing CH-47F Block II ChinookOn order | 60 | 2027 | Sixty helicopters ordered in July 2023 for about €7 billion from the Sondervermögen, in a direct government-to-government purchase from the United States approved by the Bundestag committees on 5 July 2023.
MoreFirst delivery is due in the fourth quarter of 2027 and the last in the fourth quarter of 2032. Most go to Schönewalde/Holzdorf, the rest to Laupheim, with one to the Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61 at Manching. |
|
| Bombardier Global 6000 PEGASUSOn order | 3 | 2027 | Three Global 6000 airframes being converted into a signals intelligence system by Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg with sensors from Hensoldt and about thirty other companies.
MoreTwo aircraft were flown from the United States to Germany by late 2025; handover to the Bundeswehr is planned for 2027 and initial operational capability for 2028. They will fly with Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 "Immelmann" at Schleswig-Jagel. |
|
| Airbus A330 MRTT (Multinational MRTT Fleet expansion)On order | 2 | 2029 | The pooled NATO fleet is growing from ten aircraft to twelve by 2029.
MoreGermany does not own the airframes; it buys flight hours, and a third operating base is planned at Karup in Denmark alongside Eindhoven and Köln/Bonn. |
|
| Airbus Helicopters H145M LKH SOFOn order | 3 | 2026 | Five ordered for the special-forces support squadron of Hubschraubergeschwader 64, of which at least two had been delivered by September 2026.
MoreThey come from a larger Bundeswehr order placed in December 2023 for up to 82 H145Ms across the services. |
|
| IRIS-T SLMOn order | 5 | 2025 | Five of the six fire units contracted in June 2023 for about €950 million are still to be delivered, with series deliveries running from late 2025 to 2027 and an option on two more.
MoreA further defence package of €3.85 billion included roughly €1 billion to expand IRIS-T SLM stocks. |
|
| Arrow 3On order | 2 | 2027 | Two more batteries of the three contracted on 23 November 2023, to be sited in Schleswig-Holstein and in Bavaria so that the system covers Germany from the Baltic to the Alps.
MoreFull capability is planned by the end of the decade; negotiations on additional interceptors and possibly further fire units were reported in November 2025. |
|
| MIM-104 PatriotOn order | 8 | Four fire units were ordered in March 2024 and four more in July 2024, to rebuild the force after transfers to Ukraine.
MoreThe United States undertook in August 2025 to accelerate deliveries of newly built systems in exchange for two further German units going to Ukraine. |
||
| European MALE RPAS (Eurodrohne)On order | 21 | 2030 | Twenty-one air vehicles in seven systems, from the four-nation programme with France, Italy and Spain, to replace the leased Heron TP from about 2030.
MoreThe programme has slipped repeatedly and the in-service date should be treated as a plan rather than a date. |
Every type the German Air Force has retired
63 types, from the Fokker E.I to E.IV Eindecker to the Airbus A340-313X VIP. Peak figures are airframes taken on charge over the whole service life, not fleet strength on any one date.
| Type | Role | Peak | Served | Replaced by | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A340-313X VIP | Government and VIP transport | 2 | 2010–2023 | A350-900 ACJ | Two aircraft, 16+01 and 16+02, in service from 2010 and retired in 2023. | |
| Airbus A310-304 MRTT | Air-to-air refuelling, transport and aeromedical evacuation | 4 | 1999–2022 | A330 MRTT of the Multinational MRTT Fleet | Four aircraft converted from ex-Interflug and ex-Lufthansa airframes, in service from 1999. | |
| Transall C-160D | Tactical airlift, paratrooping and aeromedical evacuation | 110 | 1968–2021 | A400M Atlas | 110 German aircraft from a Franco-German programme; 20 were sold to Turkey in 1971. | |
| Airbus A310-304 VIP and passenger | Government and personnel transport | 3 | 1991–2021 | A321LR | Three aircraft taken over from the East German airline Interflug in 1991. | |
| McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom II | Interceptor and fighter-bomber | 175 | 1973–2013 | Eurofighter Typhoon | 175 aircraft, simplified for German requirements and assembled in the United States from 1973; 110 were upgraded from 1991 under the ICE programme with the AN/APG-65 radar and AIM-120 AMRAAM. | |
| Bell UH-1D Iroquois | Utility transport, search and rescue, VIP transport | 356 | 1967–2012 | H145 LUH SAR (Heer) | 356 aircraft, nearly all licence-built by Dornier at Oberpfaffenhofen.
MoreThe Luftwaffe flew them until 2012, when the search and rescue task and the surviving airframes went to the Heer; the army retired the last in 2021. |
|
| Cessna T-37B Tweet | Basic jet pilot training in the United States | 47 | 1967–2009 | T-6A Texan II | 47 aircraft from 1967, flown in American markings. | |
| Mikoyan MiG-29A / MiG-29G and MiG-29UB / MiG-29GT | Air defence fighter | 24 | 1990–2004 | Eurofighter Typhoon | 24 aircraft inherited from the Nationale Volksarmee on 3 October 1990: 20 single-seat MiG-29A, brought to MiG-29G standard with Western radios, navigation and IFF, and 4 MiG-29UB two-seaters, modified as MiG-29GT.
MoreTwenty-two were sold to Poland in 2003–04 for a symbolic price; one was lost in a crash and one is in the museum at Berlin-Gatow. |
|
| MIM-23 Hawk | Medium-altitude ground-based air defence | — | 1965–2001 | Patriot | In Luftwaffe service from 1965 to 2001. Published launcher totals vary and none could be corroborated for this dataset, so no figure is given. | |
| Antonov An-26, Tupolev Tu-134A, Tu-154M, Ilyushin Il-62M and Let L-410 | Transport, VIP transport, calibration and Open Skies observation | 32 | 1990–2000 | — | 12 An-26 to 1994, 3 Tu-134A to 1992, 2 Tu-154M to 1997, 3 Il-62M to 1993 and 12 L-410UVP to 2000. | |
| Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet A | Light attack, weapons training and advanced training | 175 | 1979–1997 | Tornado, Eurofighter | 175 German aircraft, built jointly with France. Germany took the ground-attack A version; France took the trainer E. | |
| Mil Mi-8S, Mi-8T and Mi-8TB | Transport and assault helicopter | 91 | 1990–1997 | — | 91 airframes taken over in 1990, flown by the Heer, the Luftwaffe and the Marine until 1997. | |
| Dornier Do 28D Skyservant | Light transport, liaison and VIP transport | 121 | 1971–1995 | — | 121 aircraft from 1971 with the Luftwaffe and the Marine. | |
| McDonnell Douglas RF-4E Phantom II | Tactical reconnaissance | 88 | 1971–1994 | Tornado Recce | 88 aircraft delivered from 1971, the unarmed camera-nosed reconnaissance version. | |
| HFB 320 Hansa Jet and HFB 320M ECM | VIP transport; electronic warfare training | 16 | 1976–1994 | — | Eight VIP transports from 1976 and eight forward-swept-wing electronic warfare training aircraft from 1977. | |
| Mil Mi-24D and Mi-24P Hind | Attack helicopter | 51 | 1990–1993 | — | 51 taken over in 1990 and flown only for evaluation until 1993. | |
| Lockheed F-104G, RF-104G, TF-104G and F-104F Starfighter | Interceptor, strike, reconnaissance and nuclear strike | 916 | 1960–1991 | Tornado, F-4F Phantom II | 916 aircraft: 586 F-104G, 163 RF-104G, 137 TF-104G two-seaters and 30 F-104F trainers.
MoreGermany was by far the largest operator and most were licence-built in Europe, many by a German consortium. 292 were lost in accidents and 116 pilots killed, 108 of them German and eight American. |
|
| MGM-31 Pershing 1A | Nuclear-armed theatre ballistic missile | 72 | 1971–1991 | — | 72 launchers, 36 in each of two Luftwaffe Flugkörpergeschwader, from 1971. The missiles were German-crewed; the nuclear warheads stayed under United States custody.
MoreThe German missiles fell outside the 1987 INF Treaty, which bound only the superpowers; Chancellor Kohl undertook in August 1987 to give them up once Washington and Moscow had destroyed theirs, and they were destroyed in 1991. Flugkörpergeschwader 1 was disbanded on 31 December 1991. |
|
| Piaggio P.149D | Elementary pilot training and liaison | 266 | 1957–1990 | Grob G 115 | 266 aircraft, most licence-built by Focke-Wulf in Bremen. | |
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 | Air defence fighter and fighter-bomber | 251 | 1962–1990 | — | 251 aircraft on the Nationale Volksarmee inventory in 1989, in MF, bis, SPS, PFM, U and UM versions.
MoreNone was taken into Luftwaffe service; they were scrapped, sold to collectors and museums, or used as gate guards and targets. |
|
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 and MiG-23BN | Interceptor and fighter-bomber | 65 | 1978–1990 | — | 47 MiG-23 interceptors and 18 MiG-23BN fighter-bombers in 1989. None entered Luftwaffe service. | |
| Sukhoi Su-22M4 and Su-22UM3K | Fighter-bomber and reconnaissance | 54 | 1984–1990 | — | 54 aircraft in 1989 with the Nationale Volksarmee. None entered Luftwaffe service. | |
| Aero L-39ZO Albatros | Jet training and light attack | 52 | 1977–1990 | — | 52 aircraft in 1989 with the Nationale Volksarmee training schools. None was taken into Luftwaffe service. | |
| MIM-14 Nike Hercules | High-altitude ground-based air defence; nuclear-capable | — | 1962–1989 | Patriot | The Luftwaffe held Nike Hercules in fixed sites from the early 1960s until the end of the 1980s.
MoreNo audited German launcher total for a given year could be verified for this dataset, so no figure is given rather than a guess. |
|
| Fiat G.91R/3, G.91T/3 and G.91R/4 Gina | Light attack, tactical reconnaissance and weapons training | 461 | 1960–1982 | Alpha Jet | 345 G.91R/3 single-seaters, 66 G.91T/3 two-seat trainers and 50 G.91R/4, most of them licence-built in Germany by Dornier, Messerschmitt and Heinkel. | |
| Dornier Do 27A and Do 27B | Liaison, light transport, observation and training | 428 | 1957–1980 | Do 28D Skyservant | 322 Do 27A and 106 Do 27B, the largest single German aircraft order of the 1950s. | |
| Lockheed T-33A T-Bird | Pilot training and liaison | 192 | 1956–1976 | Alpha Jet | 192 aircraft from 1956. | |
| Sikorsky H-34G Choctaw | Transport, training, anti-submarine work and rescue | 191 | 1957–1975 | UH-1D Iroquois | 191 aircraft across the Heer, the Luftwaffe and the Marine from 1957. | |
| Nord 2501 Noratlas | Transport, training and aeromedical evacuation | 186 | 1956–1971 | Transall C-160D | 186 aircraft, most of them licence-built in Germany. | |
| MGM-1 Matador and MGM-13 Mace | Nuclear-armed cruise missile | — | 1958–1971 | Pershing 1A | Flugkörpergeschwader 1 stood up with the MGM-1 Matador in 1958 with six launchers, raised to eight in 1965.
MoreNo audited total for the German Matador and Mace inventory could be verified, so none is given. |
|
| Fouga CM.170R Magister | Jet pilot training | 234 | 1957–1969 | T-37B Texan/Tweet in the United States | 234 aircraft with the Luftwaffe and the Marine, many licence-built in Germany. | |
| Republic F-84F Thunderstreak | Fighter-bomber and weapons training | 450 | 1956–1967 | F-104G Starfighter | 450 taken on charge from 1956, the first jet combat aircraft of the new Luftwaffe. | |
| Republic RF-84F Thunderflash | Tactical reconnaissance | 108 | 1958–1966 | RF-104G Starfighter | 108 delivered from 1958. | |
| Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk.5 and Mk.6 | Day fighter and weapons training | 300 | 1958–1966 | F-104G Starfighter | 75 Sabre Mk.5 and 225 Sabre Mk.6, the Canadian licence-built F-86E with the Orenda engine. | |
| North American F-86K Sabre Dog | All-weather interceptor | 88 | 1959–1966 | F-104G Starfighter | 88 delivered from 1959, Fiat-assembled in Italy. | |
| Messerschmitt Bf 109 | Single-seat fighter | 33,984 | 1937–1945 | — | About 33,984 built between 1936 and 1945, the most-produced fighter aircraft in history.
MoreThis is total production, not a strength figure: the 1935–45 Luftwaffe never held more than a fraction of that number at one time. |
|
| Focke-Wulf Fw 190 | Fighter and fighter-bomber | 20,000 | 1941–1945 | — | Over 20,000 built from 1941. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Junkers Ju 87 Stuka | Dive bomber and ground attack | 6,500 | 1937–1945 | — | About 6,500 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Heinkel He 111 | Medium bomber and transport | 6,500 | 1935–1945 | — | About 6,500 built in Germany, plus Spanish CASA 2.111 licence production that ran to 1956. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Junkers Ju 52/3m | Transport, paratroop carrier and early bomber | 4,845 | 1935–1945 | — | About 4,845 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Messerschmitt Bf 110 | Heavy fighter, night fighter and fighter-bomber | 6,170 | 1937–1945 | — | 6,170 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe | Jet fighter and fighter-bomber | 1,430 | 1944–1945 | — | About 1,430 built, of which only a fraction were ever operational at one time. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse | Heavy fighter and fast bomber | 1,160 | 1943–1945 | — | About 1,160 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet | Rocket-powered point-defence interceptor | 370 | 1944–1945 | — | About 370 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Dornier Do 17 | Medium bomber and reconnaissance | 2,139 | 1937–1945 | — | About 2,139 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Dornier Do 217 | Heavy bomber, night fighter and missile carrier | 1,905 | 1941–1945 | — | 1,905 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Arado Ar 234 Blitz | Jet reconnaissance aircraft and bomber | 210 | 1944–1945 | — | About 210 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Heinkel He 219 Uhu | Night fighter | 290 | 1943–1945 | — | Between about 268 and 300 built; the exact figure is disputed. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Henschel Hs 129 | Anti-tank ground-attack aircraft | 865 | 1942–1945 | — | About 865 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Fieseler Fi 156 Storch | Liaison, observation and casualty evacuation | 2,900 | 1937–1945 | — | About 2,900 built, including French and Czech production that continued after the war. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu | Tactical reconnaissance and observation | 864 | 1940–1945 | — | 864 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Junkers Ju 88 | Bomber, night fighter, reconnaissance and heavy fighter | 15,000 | 1939–1945 | — | About 15,000 built in more than sixty variants, second only to the Bf 109 among German aircraft. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Heinkel He 177 Greif | Heavy bomber | 1,169 | 1942–1944 | — | 1,169 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Henschel Hs 123 | Ground-attack biplane | 265 | 1936–1944 | — | About 265 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Arado Ar 68 | Biplane fighter | 500 | 1936–1940 | — | About 500 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Heinkel He 51 | Biplane fighter and ground attack | 700 | 1935–1938 | — | About 700 built. Total production, not a strength figure. | |
| Albatros D.III | Single-seat fighter | 1,866 | 1917–1918 | — | 1,866 built in Germany, plus Austro-Hungarian Oeffag licence production. | |
| Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker | Single-seat fighter | 320 | 1917–1918 | — | 320 built in 1917–18. | |
| Fokker D.VII | Single-seat fighter | 1,700 | 1918–1918 | — | About 3,300 were ordered and roughly 1,700 reached the front before the Armistice. | |
| Fokker D.VIII (E.V) | Single-seat parasol-wing fighter | 285 | 1918–1918 | — | 381 ordered; about 285 built before the Armistice. | |
| Gotha G.IV and G.V | Heavy bomber | 205 | 1917–1918 | — | About 205 G.V built, following roughly 230 G.IV. | |
| Albatros D.I and D.II | Single-seat fighter | 325 | 1916–1917 | — | About 50 D.I and 275 D.II built from 1916. | |
| Fokker E.I to E.IV Eindecker | Single-seat fighter | 416 | 1915–1916 | — | About 416 built between 1915 and 1916. |
Where the Luftwaffe flies from
Black pins are active bases, hollow pins the airfields that have closed. The hollow pins tell the story: a Cold War network of more than forty Fliegerhorste on both sides of the inner-German border has shrunk to ten, and most of what closed after 1990 was the Nationale Volksarmee’s.
| Base | ICAO | Status | Runway | Units and aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin Brandenburg Airport, military areaBrandenburg | EDDB | Active | 06L/24R3,600 m06R/24L4,000 mconcrete |
|
| BüchelRheinland-Pfalz | ETSB | Active | 03/212,507 m |
|
| Bückeburg ArmyNiedersachsen | ETHB | Active | 08/261,831 m |
|
| Celle ArmyNiedersachsen | ETHC | Active | 08/261,831 m |
|
| Cologne/Bonn Airport, military sideNordrhein-Westfalen | EDDK | Active | 13L/31R3,815 m06/242,459 mconcrete13R/31L1,863 m |
|
| DiepholzNiedersachsen | ETND | Active | 08/261,283 m |
|
| ErndtebrückNordrhein-Westfalen | Active | — |
|
|
| Faßberg ArmyNiedersachsen | ETHS | Active | 09/272,440 m09L/27R1,000 mgrass |
|
| Fritzlar ArmyHessen | ETHF | Active | 11/291,043 m |
|
| HohnSchleswig-Holstein | ETNH | Active | 08/262,440 mconcrete |
|
| HolzdorfSachsen-Anhalt | ETSH | Active | 09/272,419 masphalt and concrete |
|
| Husum-SchwesingSchleswig-Holstein | EDXJ | Active | 14/32800 mgrass |
|
| Ingolstadt Manching AirportBayern | ETSI | Active | 07R/25L2,940 mconcrete and asphalt07L/25R2,439 mconcrete and asphalt |
|
| Kalkar and UedemNordrhein-Westfalen | Active | — |
|
|
| Laage / Rostock-Laage AirportMecklenburg-Vorpommern | ETNL | Active | 10/282,520 mconcrete and asphalt |
|
| LaupheimBaden-Württemberg | ETHL | Active | 09/271,646 m03/21600 mgrass |
|
| LechfeldBayern | ETSL | Active | 03/212,678 m |
|
| NATO GeilenkirchenNordrhein-Westfalen | ETNG | Active | 09/273,051 masphalt, 30 cm thick |
|
| NeuburgBayern | ETSN | Active | 09/272,440 m |
|
| Niederstetten ArmyBaden-Württemberg | ETHN | Active | 07/251,012 m |
|
| Nordholz NavalNiedersachsen | ETMN | Active | 08/262,440 mconcrete |
|
| NörvenichNordrhein-Westfalen | ETNN | Active | 06/242,439 m |
|
| RamsteinRheinland-Pfalz | ETAR | Active | 08/263,200 m09/273,000 m |
|
| Roth ArmyBayern | ETHR | Active | 09/27535 m |
|
| SchleswigSchleswig-Holstein | ETNS | Active | 04/222,439 mconcrete and asphalt07/252,460 mconcrete and asphalt |
|
| SpangdahlemRheinland-Pfalz | ETAD | Active | 05/233,060 m |
|
| Wiesbaden ArmyHessen | ETOU | Active | 07/252,155 m |
|
| WittmundhafenNiedersachsen | ETNT | Active | 07/252,440 m |
|
| WunstorfNiedersachsen | ETNW | Active | 08/262,499 m02/201,699 m |
|
| AhlhornNiedersachsen | ETNA | Closed 2021 | 09/272,101 mconcrete |
|
| Berlin-TegelBerlin | EDDT | Closed 2020 | 08R/26L2,428 m |
|
| Cottbus-DrewitzBrandenburg | EDCD | Closed 2020 | 07/252,484 mconcrete |
|
| Landsberg/LechBayern | ETSA | Closed 2020 | 07/252,066 mconcrete |
|
| ErdingBayern | ETSE | Closed 2014 | 08/262,521 mconcrete |
|
| LeipheimBayern | EDSD | Closed 2014 | 07/252,000 mconcrete |
|
| GüterslohNordrhein-Westfalen | ETUO | Closed 2013 | 09/272,252 m |
|
| JeverNiedersachsen | ETNJ | Closed 2013 | 10/282,480 mconcrete |
|
| FürstenfeldbruckBayern | ETSF | Closed 2010 | 09R/27L2,744 mconcrete |
|
| MendigRheinland-Pfalz | EDRE | Closed 2007 | 07/251,615 m |
|
| Rheine-BentlageNordrhein-Westfalen | ETHE | Closed 2007 | 08/26510 m |
|
| HopstenNordrhein-Westfalen | ETNP | Closed 2006 | 01/193,000 mconcrete |
|
| Eggebek NavalSchleswig-Holstein | ETME | Closed 2005 | 01/192,400 mconcrete |
|
| KaufbeurenBayern | Closed 2003 | 02/201,833 m |
|
|
| MemmingerbergBayern | EDJA | Closed 2003 | 06/242,630 m |
|
| PferdsfeldRheinland-Pfalz | ETSP | Closed 1997 | 09/272,435 m |
|
| Berlin-GatowBerlin | EDBG | Closed 1994 | 08R/26L1,842 m |
|
| BremgartenBaden-Württemberg | EDTG | Closed 1994 | 05/231,650 m05/23600 mgrass |
|
| OldenburgNiedersachsen | ETNO | Closed 1994 | — |
|
| PreschenBrandenburg | ETNR | Closed 1994 | 07/252,500 mconcrete |
|
| LeckSchleswig-Holstein | EDXK | Closed 1993 | 12/30820 mgrass |
|
| NeuhardenbergMarxwaldeBrandenburg | EDON | Closed 1990 | 08/262,400 mconcrete |
|
| PeenemündeMecklenburg-Vorpommern | EDCP | Closed 1990 | 13/312,400 mconcrete |
|
No air base matches that search.
Who is stationed where in the German Air Force
Flying units by base, with the wing each belongs to. German wings are Geschwader and their numbers are deliberate: 31 carries Boelcke, 71 carries Richthofen, 73 carries Steinhoff, and each of those names was granted by a formal decision that the service has had to defend in public.
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33Tactical air force wing · regular
- Panavia Tornado IDS, F-35A Lightning II
- Fliegende Gruppe TaktLwG 33Flying group · regular
- Panavia Tornado IDS
- Technische Gruppe TaktLwG 33Technical group · regular
- —
- Fliegerhorstgruppe TaktLwG 33Airfield group · regular
- —
- 702nd Munitions Support SquadronUnited States Air Force munitions squadron · regular
- —
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 71 "Richthofen"Richthofen · Tactical air force wing · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Fliegende Gruppe TaktLwG 71Flying group · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Technische Gruppe TaktLwG 71Technical group · regular
- —
- Top Aces German detachmentContracted adversary air training · contract
- Douglas A-4N Skyhawk, Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74Tactical air force wing · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- 1. Staffel TaktLwG 74Fighter squadron · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- 2. Staffel TaktLwG 74Fighter squadron · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Technische Gruppe TaktLwG 74Technical group · regular
- —
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31 "Boelcke"Zirkus Boelcke · Tactical air force wing · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Fliegende Gruppe TaktLwG 31Flying group · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Technische Gruppe TaktLwG 31Technical group · regular
- —
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 detachment2022–2026
- Panavia Tornado IDS
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 73 "Steinhoff"Steinhoff · Tactical air force wing and Eurofighter training wing · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- 1. Staffel TaktLwG 73Fighter squadron · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- 2. Staffel TaktLwG 73Eurofighter conversion squadron · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 71 detachmentDetached fighter wing · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Lufthansa Aviation Training initial flight training centreContracted elementary flying training · contract
- Diamond DA40 NG
- Jagdbombenfliegergeschwader 77 "Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher"1984–1990
- Sukhoi Su-22M4
- Jagdgeschwader 73 MiG-29 element1991–2004
- MiG-29G, MiG-29GT
- Air Transport Wing 62 (Lufttransportgeschwader 62)Air transport wing · regular
- Airbus A400M Atlas
- 1. Fliegende Staffel LTG 62Logistic airlift and tanking squadron · regular
- Airbus A400M Atlas
- 2. Fliegende Staffel LTG 62Tactical airlift squadron · regular
- Airbus A400M Atlas
- 3. Fliegende Staffel LTG 62Special operations airlift squadron · regular
- Airbus A400M Atlas
- 4. Fliegende Staffel LTG 62Elementary flying training squadron · regular
- —
- Technische Gruppe LTG 62Technical group · regular
- —
- NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force, E-3A ComponentMultinational airborne early warning wing · regular
- Boeing E-3A Sentry
- Operations WingOperations wing · regular
- Boeing E-3A Sentry
- Logistics WingLogistics wing · regular
- —
- Base Support WingBase support wing · regular
- —
- Marinefliegergeschwader 3 "Graf Zeppelin"Graf Zeppelin · Naval maritime patrol wing · regular
- Boeing P-8A Poseidon, Dornier 228-212 LM, Dornier 228NG LM
- 1. Fliegende Staffel MFG 3Maritime patrol squadron · regular
- Boeing P-8A Poseidon
- 2. Fliegende Staffel MFG 3Maritime patrol squadron · regular
- Boeing P-8A Poseidon, Dornier 228 LM
- Marinefliegergeschwader 5Naval helicopter wing · regular
- Westland Sea Lynx Mk.88A, NH90 NTH Sea Lion
- Fliegende Staffel Mk.88 Sea LynxShipborne helicopter squadron · regular
- Westland Sea Lynx Mk.88A
- Fliegende Staffel NTH Sea LionSearch and rescue and utility squadron · regular
- NH90 NTH Sea Lion
- P-3C Orion element2006–2025
- Lockheed P-3C Orion
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 "Immelmann"Immelmann · Tactical air force wing · regular
- Panavia Tornado ECR
- Heron TP elementUnmanned reconnaissance element · regular
- IAI Heron TP
- PEGASUS elementSignals intelligence unit · regular
- Bombardier Global 6000 PEGASUS
- Lufttransportgruppe HSG 64Air transport group · regular
- Sikorsky CH-53GA
- 3. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64Medium transport helicopter squadron · regular
- Sikorsky CH-53GA
- Arrow weapon system batteryBallistic missile defence battery · regular
- Arrow 3
- Einsatzführungsbereich 3Control and reporting centre · regular
- —
- SAR-Kommando HolzdorfSearch and rescue detachment · army
- Airbus Helicopters H145 LUH SAR
- Hubschraubergeschwader 64Helicopter wing · regular
- Sikorsky CH-53GA/GS/GE, Airbus Helicopters H145M
- 1. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64Medium transport helicopter squadron · regular
- Sikorsky CH-53GA/GS/GE
- 2. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64Medium transport helicopter squadron · regular
- Sikorsky CH-53GA/GS/GE
- 4. Fliegende Staffel HSG 64Special operations helicopter squadron · regular
- Airbus Helicopters H145M LUH SOF
- Technische Gruppe HSG 64Technical group · regular
- —
- Flugbereitschaft des Bundesministeriums der VerteidigungMinisterial and government transport wing · regular
- Airbus A350-900, Airbus A321LR, Airbus A321, Airbus A319CJ, Bombardier Global 5000/6000
- 1. LufttransportstaffelAir transport squadron (grey fleet) · regular
- Airbus A321LR, Airbus A319CJ, Bombardier Global 5000/6000
- 2. LufttransportstaffelAir transport squadron (white fleet) · regular
- Airbus A350-900, Airbus A321
- DDO/DtA Multinational MRTT FleetGerman detachment, Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit · regular
- Airbus A330 MRTT
- LuftwaffentruppenkommandoAir force forces command · regular
- —
- Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation der BundeswehrAirworthiness management organisation · regular
- —
- Luftfahrtamt der BundeswehrMilitary aviation authority · regular
- —
- Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrtmedizin der LuftwaffeAerospace medicine centre · regular
- —
- 3. LufttransportstaffelGovernment helicopter squadron · regular
- Eurocopter AS532U2 Cougar
- Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 detachmentDetached airfield element · regular
- —
- Air Transport Wing 631961–2021
- Transall C-160D
- Flugplatzstaffel LechfeldAirfield squadron · regular
- —
- Zentrum Elektronischer Kampf Fliegende WaffensystemeAirborne electronic warfare centre · regular
- —
- Jagdbombergeschwader 321958–2013
- Panavia Tornado ECR, Lockheed F-104G Starfighter
- Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61Flight test centre · regular
- Eurofighter Typhoon, Panavia Tornado, Airbus A400M
- Waffensystemunterstützungszentrum 1Weapon system support centre · regular
- —
- Waffensystemunterstützungszentrum 2Weapon system support centre · regular
- —
- Abgesetzte Instandhaltungsstaffel HSG 64Detached maintenance squadron · regular
- —
- Flugabwehrraketengeschwader 1Air defence missile wing · regular
- MIM-104 Patriot
- Flugabwehrraketengruppe 26Patriot group · regular
- MIM-104 Patriot
- Ausbildungszentrum FlaRakAir defence training centre · regular
- —
- Air Component Command der LuftwaffeAir operations command · regular
- —
- NATO Combined Air Operations Centre UedemNATO air operations centre · regular
- —
- Nationales Lage- und Führungszentrum für Sicherheit im LuftraumNational air security centre · regular
- —
- Weltraumkommando der BundeswehrSpace command · regular
- —
- Einsatzführungsbereich 2Control and reporting centre · regular
- —
- Transporthubschrauberregiment 10 "Lüneburger Heide"Army transport helicopter regiment · army
- NH90 TTH
- Technisches Ausbildungszentrum der Luftwaffe, Abteilung NordAir force technical training centre · regular
- —
- Offizierschule der LuftwaffeOfficer school · regular
- —
- LuftwaffenausbildungsbataillonBasic training battalion · regular
- —
- Transporthubschrauberregiment 30Army transport helicopter regiment · army
- NH90 TTH
- SAR-Kommando NiederstettenSearch and rescue detachment · army
- Airbus Helicopters H145 LUH SAR
- Internationales HubschrauberausbildungszentrumInternational helicopter training centre · joint
- Airbus Helicopters H135, Eurocopter EC135
- HSG 64 CH-53 simulator elementSimulator detachment · regular
- —
- Ausbildungs- und Übungszentrum LuftbeweglichkeitAir mobility training and exercise centre · army
- —
- Air Transport Wing 621959–1963
- Nord 2501 Noratlas
- Kampfhubschrauberregiment 36 "Kurhessen"Army attack helicopter regiment · army
- Eurocopter Tiger UHT
- 86th Airlift WingUnited States Air Force airlift wing · usaf
- Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules, Boeing C-40, Learjet C-21
- NATO Allied Air CommandNATO air command · nato
- —
- United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces AfricaUnited States numbered air force headquarters · usaf
- —
- 52nd Fighter WingUnited States Air Force fighter wing · usaf
- General Dynamics F-16C/D Fighting Falcon
- United States Army Europe and AfricaUnited States Army headquarters · usarmy
- —
No unit matches that search.
German Air Force milestones, 1914 to today
The Prussian and Bavarian armies form their first flying units inside the engineer branch. On 8 October 1916 they are reorganised as the Luftstreitkräfte under a Kommandierender General, Ernst von Hoeppner — the first unified air command of any major power, though still part of the army.
25 May: Gotha bombers attack Folkestone, opening the first sustained strategic bombing campaign against a civilian population. Gotha and Riesenflugzeug raids on Britain kill 857 people, part of a wider air campaign that kills 1,414 including the Zeppelins, force the creation of a layered British air defence system, and lead directly to the formation of the Royal Air Force as an independent service on 1 April 1918.
The Treaty of Versailles abolishes German military aviation. Training continues in secret, notably at Lipetsk in the Soviet Union from 1925 under a Reichswehr agreement, and in glider clubs and the airline Lufthansa at home.
1 March: Hermann Göring announces the existence of the Luftwaffe, in open breach of Versailles. From 1936 the Legion Condor fights in Spain; its bombing of Guernica on 26 April 1937 kills between 150 and 1,650 people — the figure is still contested — and becomes the twentieth century’s image of air power against civilians.
From July to October the Luftwaffe fails to win air superiority over southern England, the first defeat of a German force in the war and the first strategic air campaign to be lost. From 1943 it is destroyed in the defence of the Reich; its jets arrive in 1944, too late and in too small numbers, built in part with concentration camp labour.
9 January: the Luftwaffe of the Bundeswehr is founded, eleven years after the dissolution of the Wehrmacht, as a new service and not as a continuation of the old one. It is a NATO air force from the first day: American aircraft, American doctrine, and pilots trained in the United States.
Germany begins taking delivery of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, eventually operating 916 of them — more than any other air force. 292 are lost and 116 pilots killed, 108 of them German and eight American. The press names it der Witwenmacher. Inspekteur Werner Panitzki resigns in 1966 and Johannes Steinhoff grounds the fleet and rebuilds the training system.
The Luftwaffe takes the Pershing 1A into service, eventually holding 72 launchers in two Flugkörpergeschwader with German crews and American warheads. It becomes the centre of the 1979 NATO Double-Track Decision and the mass protests of the early 1980s, and is given up after the 1987 INF Treaty — not by the treaty itself, which covered only American and Soviet missiles, but by Chancellor Kohl’s unilateral undertaking of August 1987; the missiles were destroyed in 1991.
The Panavia Tornado enters German service, built at Manching and shared with Britain and Italy. It gives the Luftwaffe an all-weather low-level strike aircraft for the first time, and from 1985 Jagdbombergeschwader 33 at Büchel takes the German nuclear-sharing role with it.
3 October: the Luftwaffe absorbs the Nationale Volksarmee’s Luftstreitkräfte, roughly 700 aircraft and about 20,800 soldiers, with some 8,000 civilian staff. Almost everything is scrapped or sold, but 24 MiG-29s are kept, modernised as the MiG-29G and flown from Laage in German markings — the most valuable intelligence windfall NATO received that year.
Tornado ECRs of Jagdbombergeschwader 32 fly reconnaissance and defence-suppression sorties over Bosnia, the first German combat missions since 1945. In 1999 German aircraft take part in Operation Allied Force against Serbia, in the first war the Federal Republic has fought.
13 May: the Euro Hawk programme is cancelled after roughly €700 million, because the aircraft cannot be certified to fly in European airspace. It becomes the standing example of German procurement failure, and triggers a Bundestag inquiry. Two attempts to replace it follow; the third, PEGASUS, is due in 2027.
The Traditionserlass of 28 March 2018 restates in writing what the Bundeswehr may take as tradition. The Wehrmacht as an institution is excluded; individual acts of courage and professional achievement may be honoured case by case, which is the basis on which the Boelcke, Richthofen and Steinhoff names are retained and defended.
27 February: three days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces the Zeitenwende and a €100 billion Sondervermögen. Within the year it buys 35 F-35As for the nuclear role, and it goes on to fund 60 CH-47F Chinooks, IRIS-T SLM, Arrow 3, 20 more Eurofighters and the Eurofighter EK.
17 April: the 53rd and last A400M lands at Wunstorf. 3 December 2025: the first Arrow 3 battery goes live at Holzdorf. June 2026: Büchel flies again after its rebuild, and Germany and France end the FCAS fighter programme. 18 September 2026: the first German F-35A is handed over in Texas.
German Air Force news from Afterburner
Everything MiGFlug’s magazine has published on the German Air Force and the aircraft it flies. This list refreshes itself — new Afterburner stories appear here automatically.
Everything people ask about the German Air Force
What aircraft does the German Air Force fly?
Is today’s Luftwaffe the same as Hitler’s Luftwaffe?
Why do German wings carry the names Richthofen, Boelcke and Steinhoff?
Does Germany have nuclear weapons?
Why did so many German Starfighters crash?
What happened to the East German air force?
Is the Luftwaffe actually ready to fight?
Can you visit a German air base, or see a Luftwaffe aircraft?
Read the aircraft the German Air Force flew
Every type with a page in the Book of Beasts, in service first, then by the year it left the fleet.
Every fact, checked
- Bundeswehr: Luftwaffeofficial service pages; the service’s own site luftwaffe.de blocks automated access
- Bundeswehr: Unsichtbar und fortschrittlich — F-35 folgt TornadoF-35A quantity, cost, basing at Büchel, training at Ebbing ANGB, Tornado out-of-service date
- Bundeswehr: Luftwaffe erhält den 53. und vorerst letzten A400M17 April 2026 delivery of 54+63, fleet total, the Inspekteur’s quotation
- Bundeswehr: DDO/DtA Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport FleetGerman share of the MMF, personnel, Köln/Bonn as forward operating base
- Bundeswehr: 60 CH-47F für die BundeswehrChinook quantity, cost, delivery window and basing at Holzdorf, Laupheim and Manching
- Bundeswehr: Aufklärungssystem PEGASUS geht in die nächste Phasethree Global 6000 airframes, Lufthansa Technik and Hensoldt, handover 2027, basing at Jagel
- Bundeswehr: Airbus A330 MRTTGerman use of the pooled tanker fleet
- Bundesministerium der Verteidigung: Verteidigungshaushalt 2025the 2025 defence budget
- Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: Verteidigungshaushalt 2025 steigt auf 62,4 Milliarden Euro€62.4 bn Einzelplan 14 plus €24.1 bn from the Sondervermögen, 2.4 per cent NATO quota
- Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: 53. A400M für die Luftwaffe eingetroffenfinal A400M delivery, 17 April 2026
- Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: Anfangsbefähigung mit dem Flugabwehrsystem ArrowArrow initial capability
- Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: MMU — Europas Tankerflotte meldet volle Einsatzbereitschaftnine A330 MRTT in service, February 2026
- Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: CAMOBw — Standardisierung bei der Lufttüchtigkeit aller Teilstreitkräftestand-up of the airworthiness organisation on 1 August 2025
- Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: Beschaffung von sechs Luftverteidigungssystemen IRIS-T SLM unter Vertragsix fire units, €950 million, delivery to 2027
- Europäische Sicherheit & Technik: Eurofighter EK tritt die Nachfolge der Tornado ECR anthe ECR succession
- Janes: Germany signs for additional Eurofighters, Eurofighter EK upgrade20 Tranche 5 aircraft for €3.75 bn, 15 Eurofighter EK for €1.21 bn, 15 October 2025
- Janes: Luftwaffe resumes flight operations from Büchel Air Base following F-35 refurbishmentflying resumed at Büchel, June 2026
- Janes: Luftwaffe to base Arrow Weapon System in southern Germanyfurther Arrow sites
- FlightGlobal: Germany signs Tranche 5 contract to field another 20 Eurofighters from 2031quantity and delivery window 2031–2034
- FlightGlobal: Germany awards Top Aces 10-year contract extension for adversary air training servicescontracted adversary air at Wittmundhafen extended to 2035, January 2026
- European Security & Defence: Germany firms up order for 20 Tranche 5 Eurofighters€3.75 bn, budget committee approval 8 October 2025, Airbus announcement 15 October 2025
- Air Data News: Germany’s first F-35A makes maiden flight ahead of official rolloutMG-01 / 35+01 first flight 8 September 2026, rollout 18 September 2026, Ebbing ANGB training
- Airbus: A330 Multinational MRTT Fleet — six years of European strategic cooperationten aircraft, nine participating nations, bases at Eindhoven, Cologne and Karup, growth to twelve by 2029
- Airbus: Airbus delivers seventh H145 for the German Armed Forces’ Search and Rescue serviceseven aircraft, stations at Niederstetten, Nörvenich and Holzdorf, final delivery 19 March 2021
- Army Recognition: German Air Force receives first IRIS-T SLM air defence system in national configuration13 February 2026 delivery to Flugabwehrraketengruppe 61 at Todendorf
- Norsk Luftvern: Germany’s Arrow 3 acquisition — from Zeitenwende to operational realitycontract of 23 November 2023, €4 bn, Holzdorf initial capability 3 December 2025, battery composition
- Airforce Technology: German Air Force selects Lufthansa for initial pilot traininginitial flight training at Rostock-Laage from 1 February 2027, DA40 NG, about fifty trainees a year
- Shephard Media: German pilots join the IFTSGerman evaluation of the Italian International Flight Training School on the M-346; German fast-jet training remains at Sheppard AFB
- Militärisches Luftfahrthandbuch Deutschland (MIL AIP)the authority for German military ICAO codes, runway designators, lengths and surfaces; used here through the Fliegerhorst tables that cite it, because the publication itself is not openly accessible
- OurAirports open data (airports.csv and runways.csv)aerodrome reference point coordinates and elevations, cross-checked against the German aerodrome articles; used for every base coordinate in this dataset
- OpenNav: German aerodrome reference pointsused to confirm that the coordinates carried here match the published ARP to the second of arc for ETSB and ETNT
- The Aviationist: Germany signs Eurofighter Tranche 5 dealthe Tranche 5 contract of October 2025
- The Aviationist: France and Germany set to end Future Combat Air System programmethe end of the FCAS fighter in June 2026
- FlugRevue: Deutschlands letzter Airbus A400M ist dathe completion of the A400M fleet
- FlugRevue: Airbus Helicopters H145 im SAR-Dienst der Bundeswehrconfirms that the H145 LUH SAR belongs to the Heer, not the Luftwaffe, despite flying from air force airfields
- Key.Aero: Europe’s Future Combat Air System project realignmentthe FCAS realignment
- Contracted civil operators on German military airfieldsTop Aces at Wittmundhafen, CAE at Bremen, Grob at Goodyear and Lufthansa Aviation Training at Laage are contractors, not Luftwaffe units, and are marked as such
- Federation of American Scientists: United States nuclear weapons in Europethe open-source estimate of about twenty B61 weapons at Büchel; the German and American governments neither confirm nor deny
- Deutscher Bundestag: Jahresbericht des Wehrbeauftragtenthe annual reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, the standing public source on German readiness, serviceability and personnel
- Bundesministerium der Verteidigung: Bericht zu Rüstungsangelegenheitenthe twice-yearly armaments report, the authority for programme status and contracted quantities
- Bundesministerium der Verteidigung: Traditionserlass 2018the ministerial decree of 28 March 2018 on what the Bundeswehr may take as tradition, which governs the Boelcke, Richthofen and Steinhoff honour names
- Kristensen, Korda and Johns, "Nuclear weapons sharing, 2023" (Nuclear Notebook)eleven protective aircraft shelters at Büchel fitted with WS3 vaults, four weapons per vault, an estimate of 10 to 15 B61 bombs at Büchel and about 100 in Europe at six bases in five countries, and the runway reconstruction under way since September 2022
- nuclearsharing.eu: Current deploymenteleven vaults at Büchel of four weapons each for a capacity of 44, and the Kristensen and Korda 2021 per-base estimates totalling about 100 warheads in Europe
- Bundestag Drucksache 19/19884: Antwort der Bundesregierung — Das Waffensystem "Tornado", die Nachfolge und die nukleare Teilhabethe verbatim standard formula by which the federal government declines all questions about NATO nuclear forces, 5 August 2020
- Bundestag Drucksache 18/5765: Kleine Anfrage — Tornado-Abstürze am Atomwaffenstandort Büchelthe list of Tornado write-offs at Büchel on 10 July 2003, 17 October 2006, 23 March 2009 and 16 January 2014, the aircraft ages, the 837 tonnes of contaminated soil and the government’s refusal to discuss the weapons
- Bundestag Drucksache 17/1159: Antrag — Deutschland muss deutliche Zeichen für eine Welt frei von Atomwaffen setzenthe 24 March 2010 motion by CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, whose operative point five asks the government to press for the withdrawal of United States nuclear weapons from Germany; adopted 26 March 2010
- IPPNW: In Deutschland beginnen Vorbereitungen für nukleare Aufrüstungthe March 2021 government answer to Die Linke on construction at Büchel, the runway programme timetable and the repeated secrecy formula
- DFG-VK Rheinland-Pfalz: Prozesse wegen Aktionen gegen Atomwaffenthe trial and sentence record at Cochem and Koblenz, at least 99 people charged since 1997, 17 constitutional complaints, around 13 custodial terms, the Susan Crane and Susan van der Hijden sentences and the Theisen acquittal
- aixpaix.de: Sicherheitskonzept der Atomwaffen-Militärbasis Büchel gescheitertthe 10 July 2019 fence cutting, the four named activists and their ages, the 15.99-euro bolt cutters and the overnight detention
- Augen geradeaus!: Bundeswehr-Tornado über der Eifel abgestürztthe 16 January 2014 crash at 21:20 five kilometres from the base, both crew ejecting, one with minor injuries, and the Luftwaffe statement
- BMVg: Pistorius übernimmt offiziell ersten F-35A-Kampfjet für die Bundeswehrthe 18 September 2026 handover at Fort Worth, the Pistorius quotes, the 35-aircraft order, full operational readiness in 2029 and roughly two billion euros of infrastructure at Büchel
- Wehrtechnik: F-35A-Standort Büchel kurz erklärtthe five construction programmes, training at Ebbing ANGB in Arkansas, first deliveries to Büchel in autumn 2027, IOC at the end of 2028, Tornado service to the end of 2030 and 46 of 85 Tornados at Büchel in May 2025
- Aerobuzz: Die ersten Tornados des TLG 33 sind nach Büchel zurückgekehrtthe return of the first two Tornados on 15 and 16 June 2026 after four years at Nörvenich
- Bundeswehr: 60 Jahre Richthofengeschwader — Verband mit Traditionthe Luftwaffe’s own account of the 6 June 1959 formation, the move to Wittmundhafen on 29 April 1963, the 21 April 1961 honour name and the aircraft sequence
- Augen geradeaus!: Bundeswehr und Tradition — zum Beispiel Richthofenthe 3 July 2017 report on the Richthofentreffen motto, Oberstleutnant Gero Finke, and the verbatim text of the letter from the Kommandierender General der Luftwaffe
- BMVg: Die Tradition der Bundeswehr — Richtlinien zum Traditionsverständnis und zur Traditionspflege, 28 March 2018paragraph 3.4.1 on the Wehrmacht as an institution and on the case-by-case admission of individual Wehrmacht members, and paragraph 4.15 on naming procedure
- Deutscher Bundestag, Wissenschaftliche Dienste: Synopse der Traditionserlasse der Bundeswehr vom 20. September 1982 und vom 28. März 2018 (WD 2-035/18)the side-by-side comparison of the Apel decree of 1982 and the von der Leyen decree of 2018, including the 1982 formula about the military being partly culpably entangled and partly blamelessly misused, and the rules on naming units after individuals
- Nds. Landesamt für Bau und Liegenschaften: Aus- und Umbau des NATO-Flugplatzes Wittmundhafenthe itemised construction costs totalling about 351 million euros, the description of roughly 3 km of runway pavement 30 m wide being resurfaced, the suspension of flying from early 2022 and the return in July 2025
- Nds. Landesamt für Bau und Liegenschaften: Erste Eurofighter sind nach Wittmundhafen zurückgekehrtfour aircraft returning on 17 July 2025, the works completed in 2025, planned investment of about 774 million euros for 2020 to 2031 and full operations expected in the fourth quarter of 2026
- bundeswehr-journal: Luftwaffe verlegt 19 Eurofighter von Wittmund nach Laagethe first departure on 6 January 2022, completion of the move by the end of January, 19 aircraft, about 240 personnel rotating fortnightly, and the southern alert pair remaining at Neuburg
- Nordwest-Zeitung: 100 Jahre Wittmundhafen — als blinder Passagier durch den Sturmthe airship station between 1916 and 1920, Emil Kraft’s account of stowing away on L 61’s final thirteen-hour test flight to 3,000 metres, and the airship’s delivery to Italy as reparations
- The Defense Post: Germany selects Top Aces for advanced air combat trainingthe ten-year contract announced on 19–20 January 2026, worth up to 420 million euros, covering A-4N Skyhawk and Alpha Jet adversary air and joint-force training with AESA radar and the Advanced Aggressor Mission System
- Bundeswehr: Alles für den Eurofighter — Flughafen wird fit gemachtthe scope of the rebuild, sixty-year-old infrastructure, the noise-suppression hall topping out in October 2023, the four-pack shelter and alert building, and the expectation of full Eurofighter operations in 2026
- FLUG REVUE: Neuer Auftrag für Skyhawk und Alpha Jet — Top Aces gewinnt Flugzieldarstellungthe earlier contract effective 1 January 2022, seven A-4N Skyhawks and several Alpha Jets based at Wittmund, the Advanced Aggressor Mission System with AESA radar and IRST, and an investment of more than 100 million Canadian dollars
- Bundeswehr: 60 Jahre Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74the 1912 first landing, the 1935 construction and 1937 Fliegerwaffenschule, the 21 and 24 March 1945 raids with 366 bombers and 800 tonnes, the American rebuild of 1955–57, the aircraft sequence, the 15-minute alert requirement, the 1973 honour name and its removal on 11 March 2005
- bundeswehr-journal: Viel Arbeit für die Eurofighter-Alarmrottenthe figures given by Parliamentary State Secretary Ralf Brauksiepe on 18 January 2016 — 7, 10 and 18 Alpha-Scrambles and 1,066, 1,087 and 1,063 Tango-Scrambles for 2013 to 2015 — the six renegade cases that were all false, and the higher federal police totals reported by Die Welt on 24 January 2016
- bundeswehr-journal: Eurofighter-Alarmrotten auch 2016 häufig gefordert14 Alpha-Scrambles and 798 Tango-Scrambles between 1 January 2016 and 16 February 2017, the question from Tobias Lindner, and the full account of the 16 February 2017 Jet Airways Boeing 777 intercept by both alert pairs
- Bundeswehr: Sicherheit im Luftraum — der Luftwaffe entgeht nichtsthe once or twice a month figure for real alert launches, the two alert bases, the July 2003 founding of the national air security centre at Uedem, the two-minute identification requirement and the 18 military and over 50 civil radars
- Portal Militärgeschichte: Mölders und kein Ende?Oberst Erlemann’s request of 4 May 1973, the 24 April 1998 Bundestag resolution on the Legion Condor and the circumstances of the vote, the 2004 MGFA report by Wolfgang Schmidt, Struck’s January 2005 order, the 11 March 2005 ceremony, the verbatim Finster quotation and the protest advertisement by over sixty retired officers
- Bundeswehr: Sommerreise — Ministerin besucht Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74Christine Lambrecht’s visit to Neuburg on 22 July 2022, her verbatim statement on the first Indo-Pacific deployment, and the wing’s commodore at the time, Oberst Gordon Schnitger
- Bundeswehr: Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31 "Boelcke"the official current figures — 907 military and 226 civilian staff, about 30 Eurofighters, one of four German Eurofighter bases — and the wing’s role as the Luftwaffe’s lead unit for the Eurofighter’s air-to-ground capability and GBU-48 integration
- Aerobuzz: Das TLG 31 "Boelcke" erreicht 50.000 Eurofighter-Flugstunden50,000 Eurofighter flying hours reached on 31 August 2026, the commemorative fin logo, about 30 aircraft since December 2009, the derived average of roughly 1,667 hours per airframe, and the wing as the only German unit combining air-to-air, air-to-ground and RECCE Lite reconnaissance at one location
- Bundeswehr: Temporäre Tornadoverlegung von Büchel nach Nörvenichthe official announcement of the temporary move of TaktLwG 33 Tornado flying operations from Büchel to Nörvenich during the Büchel reconstruction
- Nordkurier: Warum ein Bundeswehr-Pilot mit der legären sowjetischen MiG-29 abstürztethe crash of 29+09 on 25 June 1996 near Brudersdorf: the flat spin, the ejection at about a kilometre, the pilot’s age and injuries, the finding against his control inputs, and that it is the only Soviet-built combat aircraft lost in Bundeswehr service
- Augen geradeaus!: Zwei Eurofighter der Luftwaffe zusammengestoßen, ein Pilot totthe time and place of the 24 June 2019 collision, the two pilots’ experience levels, the recovery of one from a tree near Nossentiner Hütte and the death of the other near Silz
- bundeswehr-journal: Eurofighter-Absturz — "Ein schwerer Tag für die Bundeswehr"the verbatim statements of Ursula von der Leyen and Generalleutnant Ingo Gerhartz on the day of the accident, and the detail that both aircraft were unarmed single-seaters on air combat training
- bundeswehr-journal: Waffenschule der Luftwaffe feierlich in Dienst gestelltthe commissioning at Laage on 1 October 2019, the weapons instructor course of about 140 days, the nine initial staff and roughly twenty students a year, the planned growth to about thirty posts and the first commander Oberstleutnant Dirk Pingel
- bundeswehr-journal: Luftwaffe verlegt 19 Eurofighter von Wittmund nach Laagethe move beginning on 6 January 2022, nineteen aircraft and about 240 personnel, completion by the end of January, the fortnightly rotation, the quick reaction alert taking up work immediately with one or two Tango scrambles a day, and the plan to return in 2024
- Nordwest-Zeitung: Rückkehr der Alarmrotte — Eurofighter wieder in Wittmundthe return of the quick reaction alert to Wittmundhafen on 13 July 2026 after three and a half years at Laage, the interim use of the western shelter loop, the 2032 completion target and the 774 million euro cost
- Zona Militar: Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15Js arrived in Germany for the first timethe arrival at Laage on 23 September 2025, the Atlantic Eagles deployment beginning on 14 September, the prior stop in the United Kingdom and the presence of Generalleutnant Holger Neumann at the arrival
- Wunstorfer Auepost: Als Wunstorf West-Berlin rettete — 75 Jahre Berliner Luftbrückethe first Dakota flight on 28 June 1948, the seventeen initial aircraft, 2,072 RAF personnel and about a thousand German Luftbrückenhelfer, more than 5,000 people on the base and 4,800 meals a day, the steel matting and the railway siding, the share of about one sixth of total airlift tonnage, the millionth ton on 18 February 1949, one landing every 62 seconds at Gatow on 16 April 1949, and the ten deaths at Wunstorf
- Bundeswehr: Zehn Jahre Lufttransport mit dem A400Mthe arrival of 54+01 on 19 December 2014, more than 50,000 flying hours by the tenth anniversary, the February 2015 first domestic flight and the Washington comparison of fifteen tonnes in a day against six tonnes in three, the 2022 Rapid Pacific circumnavigation, 394 tonnes into Turkey in February 2023, the 21 Gaza missions and more than 220 tonnes in 2024, and the quotations from Oberst Markus Knoll and Generalleutnant Günter Katz
- Bundeswehr: Vor einem Jahr — die Luftbrücke aus Kabul läuft anthe operation running from 16 to 26 August 2021, 5,347 people evacuated by A400M and A310, up to 600 German personnel under Brigadegeneral Jens Arlt, evacuees from 45 nations and the Tashkent hub
- FLUG REVUE: Flucht aus Kabul — Wettlauf gegen die Uhrthe two A400Ms leaving Wunstorf on 16 August 2021, the landing at 21:57 and the departure at 22:42 with the first seven evacuees, the thirty-minute ground time, the seven aircraft shuttling to Tashkent, the 37 flights, the 4,129 Afghans and 469 Germans, and the loading of up to 230 evacuees against a normal limit of 116
- NATO AWACS: E-3A Componentabout 1,400 military and civilian personnel, multinational crews from 19 NATO member nations, fourteen E-3As, the three wings and two operational squadrons plus training squadron, the brigadier general commander alternating between the United States Air Force and the Luftwaffe with a Royal Netherlands Air Force deputy, the forward operating bases at Konya, Aktion and Trapani and the forward operating location at Ørland with about twenty personnel each, and the NATO Response Force five-day deployment requirement
- NATO: AWACS — NATO’s eyes in the skyfourteen E-3As, a flight crew of three and a mission crew of about twelve tailored to the task, the sixteen full NAPMO members, the Final Lifetime Extension Programme valued at about one billion US dollars keeping the fleet flying through 2035, and the announcement at the 2026 NATO summit that eleven allies would jointly procure up to ten Saab GlobalEye aircraft
- NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force Headquarters factsheet, October 2018about 1,400 personnel and seventeen participating nations of which sixteen provide military personnel, the three Trainer Cargo Aircraft operated from 1985 to December 2011, the command arrangements at force and component level, and the forward operating bases
- Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives: Crash of a Boeing E-3A Sentry in Prevezathe accident of 14 July 1996 to LX-N90457 at Preveza-Aktion: the rejected take-off after V1, the overrun into the dyke and the sea, five crew and eleven passengers all uninjured, and the finding of no evidence of a bird strike
- Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives: Crash of a Boeing KC-135E Stratotanker at Geilenkirchenthe crash at 20:55 on 13 January 1999 of 59-1452 of the 141st Air Refueling Wing, Washington Air National Guard, the go-around, the pitch-up and stall, the four fatalities and the runaway trim motor finding
- Defense News: German NATO air base lowers security level after ’potential threat’the security level raised late on 22 August 2024 and lowered on the afternoon of 23 August, non-essential personnel sent home, no disclosure of the nature of the threat, and the component’s statement that all scheduled operations were proceeding as planned
- Breaking Defense: NATO allies cancel E-7A Wedgetail order, eye replacement, says Netherlandsthe cancellation by eight allies of the six-aircraft E-7A purchase announced on 14 November 2025, the United States Air Force withdrawal on cost and survivability grounds, the alternatives under assessment including the Saab GlobalEye, the E-2D and the Bombardier Global 6500, and the quotations from Mark Rutte and Gijs Tuinman
- European Security & Defence: NATO AWACS partners cancel plans to buy the E-7 Wedgetailthe six-aircraft plan, the Dutch statement that the strategic and financial foundations of the previous programme had been lost, the fourteen remaining E-3As reaching the end of their service life in 2035, and the noise problem cited as a reason to replace them
Figures verified 2026-09-20. Order of Battle pages are regenerated from a single dataset; if a number here disagrees with a Book of Beasts page, this page is the more recent of the two.
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