BAAINBw Awards Lufthansa Technik a Used Global 6000 as the PEGASUS Trainer, IOC Held at 2028
Koblenz, 26 August 2026
Key points
- BAAINBw is buying a used Bombardier Global 6000 from Lufthansa Technik by direct award, justified as classified work with defence and security relevance
- The aircraft becomes the training platform for PEGASUS, carrying the mission aircraft's cockpit and avionics without its SIGINT sensor suite
- Contract completion is due by end-September 2026, with delivery this year, ahead of crews training at Schleswig-Jagel
- Three PEGASUS mission aircraft are on order under Hensoldt as prime contractor, due in 2027, with initial operational capability held at 2028
- A further three PEGASUS aircraft are planned, backed by a EUR 25 million budget line expected this year; the trainer's own value was not disclosed
BAAINBw has awarded Lufthansa Technik a direct contract for a used Bombardier Global 6000 to train crews for PEGASUS, Germany's airborne signals-intelligence system, ahead of the mission aircraft themselves, due in 2027 with initial operational capability held at 2028.
The trainer replicates the cockpit and avionics of the three PEGASUS aircraft Hensoldt is fitting as prime contractor, but carries none of the sensor suite that makes the mission aircraft operational — it teaches crews to fly the platform, not to run its intercept mission. BAAINBw justified the direct award, bypassing competitive tender, as classified work with defence and security relevance, with completion due by the end of September and delivery this year. The schedule that matters is the one unchanged: mission aircraft still arrive in 2027, IOC still holds at 2028, and a further three airframes beyond the initial three depend on a EUR 25 million budget line expected this year.
The trainer buy is a hedge against slippage on the mission jet itself. Großwald recorded flight-test delays on the PEGASUS mission aircraft, and a trainer procured outside that programme's own schedule reads as BAAINBw building crew readiness independently of whatever slack remains in flight testing — useful regardless of whether 2028 holds. Signal No. 132 carried the award; the next marker is whether the EUR 25 million line for the second batch clears committee this year.
Related · The PEGASUS programme
