Germany’s First F-35 Fighter Reaches U.S. for Pilot Training as NATO Air Integration Expands.

Germany’s first F-35A Lightning II arrived at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on October 6, 2026, to support U.S.-based training for Luftwaffe pilots before the aircraft enters service in Germany. The training, led by the U.S. Air Force’s 85th Fighter Group under the Foreign Military Sales program, prepares German aircrews for fifth-generation combat operations before F-35s are transferred to German soil.

Germany’s first F-35A Lightning II has reached Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas, beginning the U.S.-based training phase for Luftwaffe personnel ahead of the fighter’s entry into German service. The 85th Fighter Group will lead pilot instruction under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, providing German crews with preparation for fifth-generation combat operations before the first aircraft move to Germany.

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The first German Air Force F-35 Lightning II lands at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas on October 6, 2026, marking a key step toward the start of German pilot training led by the 85th Fighter Group under the 33rd Fighter Wing. (Picture source: US DoD)

The aircraft is the first of 35 F-35As ordered by Berlin to replace part of the Luftwaffe’s ageing Panavia Tornado fleet. Germany signed the procurement agreement in 2022, covering the fighters as well as engines, mission equipment, weapons, spare parts, logistical support and training. Several German aircraft are expected to remain initially in the United States for instruction, while the first F-35As intended for operations from Germany are scheduled to arrive later in the program as infrastructure and personnel at Büchel Air Base become ready.

The first German aircraft had already marked an industrial milestone before reaching Arkansas. Lockheed Martin began production of Germany’s first F-35A in November 2025 with work on the center fuselage and final assembly process in Fort Worth. Its transfer to Ebbing now moves the program beyond production and acceptance into the phase where German personnel build the flying experience, maintenance procedures and tactical familiarity required before the Luftwaffe establishes an operational F-35 force.

Training at Ebbing is conducted by the 85th Fighter Group, a geographically separated unit of the 33rd Fighter Wing headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The unit supports international F-35 training under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales framework. Ebbing has progressively become an important training location for allied F-35 customers, allowing German crews to work inside a multinational environment built around common procedures and tactics rather than learning the aircraft solely within a national framework.

The F-35A is the conventional takeoff and landing version of the Lightning II family. It is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan producing about 43,000 pounds of thrust with afterburner and can reach Mach 1.6. The fighter combines a low-observable airframe with internal weapons bays that allow air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions to be carried while limiting the increase in radar signature associated with external stores. Its maximum takeoff weight is around 31.8 tonnes.

The aircraft’s avionics are central to the operational change facing German crews. The F-35A uses the AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array radar for air and surface detection, tracking and targeting, while the Distributed Aperture System relies on six infrared sensors positioned around the aircraft to provide continuous 360-degree coverage. An Electro-Optical Targeting System provides infrared observation and laser targeting functions for precision strike missions. These feeds are combined with electronic warfare sensors and presented through the pilot’s Helmet-Mounted Display System rather than through a traditional head-up display.

Its weapons architecture also allows the same aircraft to shift between air superiority, precision strike, and suppression of enemy air defenses. The F-35A can employ AIM-120 AMRAAM beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, AIM-9X Sidewinders, and precision-guided air-to-ground weapons including JDAM and Small Diameter Bombs. Weapons can remain inside the fuselage when reduced observability is required, while six external hardpoints can be used when a larger payload takes precedence over the aircraft’s lowest radar signature.

For the Luftwaffe, however, the principal change lies less in individual weapons than in the way the aircraft collects, combines and distributes information. German pilots must learn to exploit low observability while managing radar, infrared and electronic warfare data as a single tactical picture. In contested airspace, this gives the aircraft the ability to search for airborne or ground threats, support precision engagement and pass targeting information to other forces while reducing its own exposure. Secure communications and data links also allow the fighter to operate as part of a wider joint force rather than as an isolated strike aircraft.

The Arkansas phase is therefore particularly important because fifth-generation operations require different tactical habits from those developed around the Tornado. German crews will have to coordinate sensor use, emissions, formation geometry and weapons employment while preserving the aircraft’s low-observable advantages. Training alongside U.S. and allied personnel provides a common tactical foundation before the pilots return to Europe, where German F-35As are expected to operate with Eurofighters, NATO airborne early warning aircraft, tankers and ground-based command networks.

Germany plans to operate the F-35A from Büchel Air Base, where infrastructure is being adapted for the new fleet. The fighter will ultimately take over the nuclear-sharing mission currently assigned to the Tornado, maintaining Germany’s contribution to NATO nuclear sharing as the older aircraft leaves service. This requirement has given the F-35 program a role extending well beyond conventional fleet replacement, linking the Luftwaffe’s transition to fifth-generation combat aviation directly with one of Germany’s most sensitive Alliance commitments.

The arrival of Germany’s first F-35 at Ebbing on October 6 consequently marks more than the beginning of pilot training. It brings another major European air force deeper into an increasingly common NATO fighter architecture already adopted by Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and other allies. As European air forces standardize training, sensors, weapons and mission planning around the F-35, NATO gains a broader pool of aircraft able to exchange tactical information and conduct combined operations against increasingly dense air defenses. For Germany, the transition simultaneously modernizes conventional air combat and ensures continuity in its contribution to NATO nuclear sharing as the Tornado fleet approaches retirement, giving the F-35 program direct consequences for deterrence on the Alliance’s eastern flank.

Written By Erwan Halna du Fretay - Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Erwan Halna du Fretay holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and has experience studying conflicts and global arms transfers. His research interests include security and strategic studies, particularly the dynamics of the defense industry, the evolution of military technologies, and the strategic transformation of armed forces.