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Most of the 128 Eurofighter Typhoon jets used by the German Air Force have revealed serious shortcomings and are no longer suitable for military operations, the German Spiegel magazine reported.
According to the media outlet, engineers have detected problems in the aircraft's self-protection system which is supposed to detect enemies and ensure the survivability of the jet during military operations.
The report says that serious malfunctions disable sensors, making the jets literally "blind" and reducing the effectiveness of their use.
Without this system, the aircraft can't be deployed in NATO operations, the magazine wrote, adding that the German army is facing serious challenges in terms of fulfilling its obligations within the military bloc.
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The Eurofighter Typhoon is a multi-purpose fourth generation fighter. The aircraft, which entered service in 2003, is manufactured by Eurofighter GmbH and is operated by Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Austria and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that the Bundeswehr intends to spend more than €450 million on the modernization of its armed forces in 2018 alone.
The move came amid reports that the German army has been suffering equipment and staff shortages.
For instance, on March 31, 2018, news emerged of a confidential report from the German Defense Ministry warning of the poor and "outdated" state of the Air Force's fleet of Tornado combat jets. The aircraft were said to be incapable of joining further NATO missions as they do not possess an encrypted communication system and the intelligence they gather remains vulnerable to interception.
Previously, another German magazine had reported that over half of the German Bundeswehr's Leopard 2 tanks weren't ready for operation. It was said that the Bundeswehr has 244 tanks of this type in service, but only 95 of them are in full combat readiness.