Jane's reported that German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Chief Lieutenant General Karl Müllner's insistence on F-35 acquisition caused his early retirement.

Müllner has made a number of comments in favour of the US production F-35 Lightning II regarding the acquisition of a replacement for the Tornado aircraft, which nears the end of its service life. However, these statements resulted in a request for the commander to leave his post by May.

The German Defence Ministry shows a tendency to buy Typhoon's and says Müllner only looks at the issue in terms of operational capabilities, but this is a very limited approach. Among the aircraft that can replace the Tornados are Eurofighter Typhoon, F-15 and F/A-18E/F.