In December, the German government decided to spend $8.4 billion to buy 35 F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighters developed by Lockheed Martin to bolster the Luftwaffe's combat capabilities. According to German media reports, as long as the F-35 is replaced, the relatively old "Tornado" fighter-bombers currently in service with the Luftwaffe will be gradually retired in the next few years, when the F-35 and "Typhoon" fighters will become the main models of the Luftwaffe. Compared to the "Tornado", the advantages of the F-35 need not be repeated.
Although the Luftwaffe is not yet able to get the F-35, some countries are already eyeing the "wind" that is about to be retired. A few days ago, some media reported that Melnik, who previously served as Ukraine's ambassador to Germany and is currently serving as Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, called on the German government to transfer the retired "wind" to the Ukrainian Air Force free of charge. In Melnik's view, although the "Tornado" is a little old, it can still perform combat missions and hand it over to the Ukrainian Air Force, allowing the aircraft to continue to exert its residual heat.
Military experts said that Ukraine asked Germany for "strong winds" in order to hit the airfields of the Russian army. It is reported that at the beginning of its design, "Tornado" was characterized as a high-performance fighter with deep strike capabilities, capable of performing a variety of tactical tasks such as ground strike, air fire support, interception and air defense. However, when it comes to the most proficient skill of the aircraft, it is ground attack. It has a maximum flight speed of Mach 2.2, a bomb load of 9 tons, and a combat radius of about 1500 km.
Military experts said that among the fighter-bombers at that time, the performance of the Tornado was very good, and even after decades of service, the Tornado was still a ground attack aircraft that many Western air forces relied on. If the Ukrainian Air Force can acquire the aircraft, its ground attack capabilities, especially against high-value ground targets such as Russian military airfields, will be greatly improved. It can be said that Ukraine's "wishful thinking" is very precise.
However, according to people familiar with the matter, the combat readiness of the "Tornado" is quite poor. According to statistics, the Luftwaffe currently has 97 Tornado, but only 10 are capable of combat missions, and the rest have various problems. If the Ukrainian army wants it, it will have to bear the huge cost of maintaining the "strong wind", but this cost is a sky-high price for the current Ukraine, and it is simply impossible to bear, and the German government is naturally unwilling to spend this money for Ukraine.
In addition, the various risks that may arise from aiding Ukraine "Tornado" will also prevent the German government from providing the decommissioned "Tornado" to the Ukrainian Air Force. In the matter of assisting Ukraine, the German government has been more cautious, and has not yet clearly stated that it will provide assistance to the Ukrainian army for the "Leopard 2" main battle tank, as a reference, the German government cannot easily send the "Wind" to the Ukrainian army.