- [metallic clanking and ominous music]

- The German military has suffered a number of recent embarrassing setbacks. In late 2017, the Deutsche Marine found itself without a single working submarine. Then earlier this year, it was revealed the Bundeswehr had only nine operational Leopard 2 tanks and three Marder infantry vehicles available, even though the German army was supposed to provide 44 tanks and 14 infantry vehicles per NATO's Very High Readiness Task Force, which Germany is supposed to take the leadership of this year. And now it appears it's the Luftwaffe's turn. The German Air Force has only 10 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters that could be classified as mission ready, out of a force of 128. And the Luftwaffe has only enough missiles to make four of those aircraft combat ready. This news come atop admissions earlier this year, that all of the Luftwaffe's aircraft, including CH53 cargo helicopters, Typhoons, and the Tornado jet fighters, are only available for use four months out of the year. For the rest of the year, the aircraft are either grounded for repairs or for lack of armament and equipment. In the case of the Typhoons, a shortage of parts is responsible, according to a report in "Der Spiegel," including replacement parts, the Typhoon's electronic sensor wing pod, which identifies enemy aircraft and missiles and provides missile radar jamming and other counter measures. A cooling system has left a vast majority of these systems, part of the Typhoon's defensive aid sub-system, non-functional. During the development of the Typhoon, the German government decided the defensive aid sub-system chosen for the aircraft was too expensive and decided to have DailmerChrysler Aerospace, also known as DASA, develop a cheaper alternative. But DASA merged into the European defense conglomerate, EADS, in 2000, and at some point, the manufacturer of the part required to fix the coolant leak in the sensors was sold. With no alternate parts supplier available, Luftwaffe has had to cannibalize its aircraft for replacement parts. The Luftwaffe itself has claimed to have 82 Typhoons in it's High Readiness Force. But in a report to the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, last year, the Luftwaffe admitted to having only 39 Typhoons ready for use. And that number appears to include mostly aircraft that were fitted with dummy sensor systems for training flights.