BERLIN—German lawmakers on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for a series of defense procurement projects, including the purchase of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, as Berlin begins to spend a huge fund to strengthen the country’s military.
Germany in mid-March announced plans to replace aging Tornado bomber jets with 35 F-35A Lightning II aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons. That was one of a series of projects worth a total of nearly 13 billion euros (nearly $13.8 billion) that have now been approved by parliament’s budget committee.
German air force commander Ingo Gerhartz said pilot training on the F-35s would start in 2026 and the first planes should come to Germany in 2027….