First German F-35A gets stealth coating before delivery

Germany’s first F-35A, designated MG-01, has moved into Aircraft Final Finishes at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, production facility, where it will receive paint and a stealth coating before continuing toward delivery to the Luftwaffe, the company said Monday.

The aircraft entered final assembly in March, when its wing, forward, center and aft fuselage sections were mated at Fort Worth. Lockheed Martin completed installation of the jet’s Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engine in early June. MG-01 is the first of 35 F-35As Germany ordered under a Foreign Military Sales agreement, with the intergovernmental Letter of Offer and Acceptance approved in December 2022.

The aircraft is expected to undergo an official rollout ceremony and first flight later this year, followed by delivery to the Luftwaffe. The first eight German F-35As will initially be based at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where German pilots and maintenance crews will train alongside U.S. instructors and personnel from other allied F-35 operators before the jets deploy to Büchel Air Base in Germany, which is expected by late 2027.

The F-35A will replace Germany’s aging Panavia Tornado fleet. German F-35 production began at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Georgia, facility in December 2024, with structural assembly work later shifting to Fort Worth. Eight German F-35As are currently in various stages of production, according to Lockheed Martin.

Germany’s F-35 order proceeded separately from the Future Combat Air System, the joint fighter program Germany has pursued with France for entry around 2040. That program fractured earlier this year, with Germany now pursuing specific digital components rather than a full joint aircraft.