BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s budget committee on Wednesday approved the procurement of 20 more Eurofighter jets for around 3.75 billion euros ($4.36 billion), according to the defence ministry.
The so-called tranche 5 of Eurofighter jets is to be delivered to the air force between 2031 and 2034.
Within the NATO alliance, the new jets are important for data collection and electronic warfare, said Andreas Schwarz, who handles budget for the coalition partner Social Democrats.
“This will ensure the military operational capability of the Eurofighter until 2060,” the lawmaker added.
In total, the committee approved 14 proposals that surpass the threshold of 25 million euros, requiring committee approval, for a value of more than 7 billion euros, said the ministry.
“Over the course of the year, we will be submitting further armaments projects on a considerable scale to the German Bundestag in order to continue the positive momentum in procurement for the operational readiness of the Bundeswehr and the needs-based equipping of our soldiers,” the ministry added.
($1 = 0.8596 euros)
(Reporting by Holger Hansen, writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Thomas Seythal)
