The German Luftwaffe is deploying three Tornado fighter-bombers from Tactical Air Wing 33 to Aviano Air Base in northern Italy for “Steadfast Noon,” NATO’s annual nuclear weapons exercise in defending allied territory. The Tornado fighter-bomber jets are normally stationed at Büchel Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate. Forces from 17 nations are taking part until the end of next week. According to military experts, participants practise moving weapons from underground storage and mounting them on aircraft, using dummy bombs without nuclear warheads. NATO has disclosed few details this year and describes the exercise as routine, unrelated to current world events. Germany participates annually through NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangement.
Germany’s continued participation signals continuity in its NATO nuclear-sharing posture. Its order of US F-35A jets to replace the ageing Tornado fleet locks Berlin into US nuclear sharing well into the 2030s. Meanwhile, the collapse of the Franco-German FCAS fighter programme has left the US as Germany’s default supplier, even as European allies push for a stronger European pillar within NATO.
The paradox is that the very investments meant to strengthen that pillar deepen Germany’s dependence on American technology. The B61 bombs remain under US control, and the aircraft that carry them rely on US software, maintenance and supply chains. Concurrently, Berlin is exploring a French-backed European layer of deterrence as insurance against a less reliable Washington. Yet where Franco-German cooperation was meant to deliver sovereign capability, it has stalled, while US systems fill the gaps.
Germany is not choosing between Washington and Paris; it is hedging between them. Its participation in this year’s “Steadfast Noon” shows that the European option remains a political conversation, while US technology remains an operational reality.
