West German Luftwaffe aircraft 2000 - Cold war continues

Pangur

Donor
As it ways on the tin, what how large would the Luftwaffe have been and what aircraft would they had in their inventory?
 
Interesting question; i would to see the LW oprate the F-15.
Other solid options are...mmm...the F-16, maybe?
Btw I am afraid they would squander their money on the endless Eurofighter program and be in need to buy a stop-gap plane ib the meantime...much like they did with the F-4 during the time they were developing the similarly dismal Tornado
 

Pangur

Donor
They may well have had a good luck at the F-15E which was quite different from the previous versions, the F-16 however perhaps not. I am curious as to the Tornado as dismal
 
Not much wrong with the Tornado as a strike aircraft. Not as glamorous as some but they've put some hard work in (especially the RAF aircraft) and developed some very important capabilities that are much in demand from allied nations (even the US). The fighter variants weren't sexy but they did what they were designed to do (carry a big radar and a lot of missiles).

I'd assume that in a continuing Cold War the Eurofighter/Typhoon project wouldn't have had nearly as many delays as it did so the Luftwaffe can probably get by with their upgraded Phantoms into the late 1990s when the Typhoon start entering service to replace them.
 
Agree Mike D - Tornado IDS excellent aircraft in Luftwaffe use for both the land and maritime use. The ADV version while some deride it - well suited for the range required and long loiter over the North Sea - an analogue to the Mosquito rather than the Spitfire!
In OTL the 'do we really need question' came up with the Eurofighter, in an extended Cold War - it gets into service earlier.
 
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