The first large offset, with which German added value is to be realised on F-35s ordered to maintain nuclear sharing, has now gone under contract. And in this, Saxony lost out to North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
As Rheinmetall announced today, it has been contracted to produce the fuselage sections of F-35A Lightning II and is planning to build a state-of-the-art factory for this purpose at the Weeze site in the district of Kleve (NRW). “The new plant is due to produce at least 400 F-35A fuselage sections for the air forces of Germany and other friendly nations. An integrated technology group, Rheinmetall will be drawing here on its extensive experience in fabricating sophisticated components as well as in the aviation domain. Production is expected to commence in 2025,” the company reports, adding: “The decision on where to place the factory followed a review of possible locations around Germany.”
The planned factory is to be operated by Rheinmetall Aviation Services GmbH and will cover a production area of almost 60,000 square metres. The new factory will create more than 400 jobs and, in addition to the assembly line, will include logistics and storage areas, research and testing centres, training rooms and quality control.
“I congratulate North Rhine-Westphalia and the municipality of Weeze for winning this bid,” says Jens Lehmann, Member of the German Parliament and member of the Defence Committee of the German Bundestag. “I would have very much liked production to be located in Saxony in the future, because we have very good infrastructural conditions here as well as a motivated and highly qualified workforce. Unfortunately, Saxony could not hold its own against Weeze in the overall assessment. In the end, the soil conditions and the associated fast construction possibilities for the production line were the decisive criteria. Here, the Saxon soil could not keep up in the end.”
Ground-breaking ceremony for the new production site is planned for August, and the first F-35 is expected to fly in the Bundeswehr in 2026. “Even if Saxony did not win the contract, I still see the construction of fuselage sections for the F-35 in Germany as an accolade for our defence technology industry,” emphasises Lehmann. “The order figures for F-35 speak for themselves, many countries will trust this aircraft in the future and will soon be flying with a fuselage section ‘made in Germany’. Now it is important for me, but above all for the Saxon state government, to continue the good talks with Rheinmetall so that the planned powder plant is realised in Saxony.”
Dorothee Frank, Head of editorial team