Germany is considering purchasing more US F-35 fighters.

In the face of unpredictable political decisions of Donald Trump and talks about Europe needing to become increasingly self-sufficient with its military potential, such move may seem at least odd. This comes at a time when Germany and France were supposed to develop their Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program.

FCAS is a “100-billion-euro project, launched in 2017 to replace France’s Rafales and Eurofighters from 2040,” Reuters reports. The program does not move forward due to industrial rivalries. Germany’s IG Metall union has warned that it will stop cooperating on the program if France’s Dassault Aviation stays involved. It’s expected that Germany and France will abandon the development of a joint fighter jet, but will keep cooperating on drones and the digital backbone linking manned and unmanned platforms within the FCAS program.

“Purchasing more F-35 jets would buy Germany time to figure out a solution for the development of a sixth-generation fighter jet and finding a partner for such a project,” Reuters adds. This shows that while some European elites are eager for Europe to become more militarily autonomous, the reality is that it’s much easier said than done. Even an industrial goliath like Germany is still not able to be self-sufficient in that regard.

Germany’s Defence Ministry is yet to comment on the case, while a spokesperson for defence contractor Lockheed Martin said that the company was already focused on building F-35s ordered by Germany. Germany has already purchased 35 of the aircraft in 2022, with deliveries due to begin later this year. They will succeed the Tornado jets in their role as carriers of US nuclear bombs stored in Germany via the nuclear sharing program. The F-35 is the only Western fighter jet certified to carry the B61 nuclear bombs.