Military Audit: Lufthansa

Target: Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa Group; incl. SWISS, Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik) Domain: Military (Military / Defence) Date: June 2026 Scope: Lufthansa Group’s own military/defence-nexus conduct re Israel.

Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

Lufthansa Technik AG, the Group’s wholly owned MRO subsidiary, has built an explicit defence business unit - branded Lufthansa Technik Defense since 2023 - focused on the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and NATO partners.¹ Its primary customers and programmes are German and NATO: the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (multi-year sustainment contract with Boeing signed November 2025),² the PEGASUS signals-intelligence platform, the CH-47F Chinook, A310 multi-role transport tanker, and technical support for Germany’s future F-35 fleet (alongside Lockheed Martin, Rheinmetall, and ESG).¹ Lufthansa Technik has been the sole MRO provider for all aircraft of Germany’s Special Air Mission Wing (Flugbereitschaft) since 1959, delivering three custom Airbus A350 VIP transports to the German Air Force, the final aircraft handed over 6 June 2024 at ILA Berlin.³

No direct defence contracts between Lufthansa Group and the Israeli military or Israeli defence procurement authorities have been identified through live search.

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

Elbit Systems DIRCM installation (German Air Force A350s): On 19 December 2024 the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment (BAAINBw) commissioned Lufthansa Technik AG as general contractor to equip all three government A350s with the Israeli-manufactured J-MUSIC Directed Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) self-protection system.⁴ The DIRCM is supplied by Elbit Systems (Israeli defence prime), with Airbus providing structural integration; Lufthansa Technik installs the systems sequentially during maintenance layovers over a five-year programme - the world’s first DIRCM installation on an A350 platform.⁴ The system protects against MANPADS. This is a German government-directed programme; Lufthansa Technik’s role is as integrating MRO contractor for a German military customer, in commercial partnership with an Israeli defence prime.

Lufthansa Technik / Elbit Systems Hermes 900 MOU (German Navy UAVs): In January 2024 Lufthansa Technik signed a memorandum of understanding with Israeli firm Elbit Systems to jointly offer and maintain up to eight Hermes 900 Starliner unmanned aerial systems for the German Navy.⁵ Lufthansa Technik would handle MRO and crew training; Elbit would manufacture the drones.⁵ As of April 2024 a formal contract had not been signed, and no subsequent binding contract has been confirmed as of June 2026.⁵ This constitutes a commercial partnership with an Israeli defence prime (for a NATO customer) initiated while Elbit was simultaneously supplying weapons to the IDF.

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

No public evidence identified. Lufthansa Group holds no construction, engineering, or infrastructure subsidiaries. No involvement in construction contracts in Israel, the occupied West Bank, or Gaza has been identified.

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

Elbit Systems (Israel): Lufthansa Technik has two active interfaces with Elbit Systems - as DIRCM system integrator under the BAAINBw-commissioned A350 programme (contracted December 2024)⁴ and as co-proposer on the German Navy Hermes 900 MOU (January 2024).⁵ Elbit is Israel’s largest publicly traded defence company and a primary supplier of munitions, drones, and EW systems to the IDF, with products used in active IDF operations in Gaza.⁶

Boeing (US): Lufthansa Technik Defense’s P-8A Poseidon sustainment contract (November 2025) is a Boeing sub-contract for the German Navy fleet; no Israel nexus.²

Lockheed Martin / Rheinmetall / ESG (F-35 support): Lufthansa Technik Defense is part of the German F-35 support consortium for the German Luftwaffe fleet only.¹ The F-35I Adir is also operated by the Israeli Air Force; however, no evidence of Lufthansa Technik providing F-35 support to the IAF has been identified.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC): A June 2025 strategic partnership for aircraft modification/lifecycle support for US, European, and NATO customers; no Israel-specific nexus documented.⁷

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

Lufthansa Cargo - carriage of military/security goods to Israel: Lufthansa Cargo resumed regular cargo flights to Tel Aviv on 1 August 2025 (seven weekly flights) and was transporting military and security-related cargo to and from Israel until December 2025.⁸⁹ On approximately 5–9 December 2025 Lufthansa Cargo imposed a blanket embargo on all military and security cargo to and from Tel Aviv, attributing it to the UK Export Control Order 2008 and associated sanctions (which require a Standard Individual Export Licence per military shipment), reportedly enforced via its UK-based insurance underwriters.⁹¹⁰ Within roughly one week, Lufthansa Cargo confirmed to Declassified UK that it had resumed military and security shipments, describing a per-shipment UK export-licence process as “available to obtain the necessary permits in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws.”¹⁰

Lufthansa flights transporting IDF F-35 components over Irish airspace (2021–2025): Investigative outlet The Ditch documented multiple Lufthansa cargo flights transporting F-35 fighter-jet components classified as munitions of war through Irish sovereign airspace without required ministerial authorisation. At least five flights were documented between November 2021 and September 2023, originating at Dallas Fort Worth, transiting Frankfurt, and delivering cargo destined for Nevatim IDF air base in Israel; two carried components marked as dangerous goods.¹¹ In February 2025, two further flights (LH439, 13 February 2025; LH453, 6 February 2025) were documented carrying F-35 components for the IDF.¹² These flights constitute documented logistical sustainment of the Israeli military’s F-35 fleet - aircraft operationally deployed in Gaza - by Lufthansa’s cargo operations.

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

No evidence of Lufthansa Group manufacturing, trading in, or brokering munitions or weapons systems has been identified; it is an airline and MRO group, not a defence manufacturer. The F-35 components transported by Lufthansa Cargo flights were classified as munitions by virtue of being controlled fighter-jet parts; Lufthansa’s role was as carrier (freight logistics), not manufacturer.¹¹ Lufthansa Technik’s DIRCM installation role involves integrating a weapons-protection system manufactured by Elbit Systems on German Air Force aircraft.⁴

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

UK Export Control Order 2008 / SIEL requirement: Lufthansa Cargo’s December 2025 military-cargo suspension was attributed to the UK Export Control Order and associated sanctions requiring a Standard Individual Export Licence per military shipment to Israel; the UK had suspended approximately 30 arms-export licences to Israel in September 2024.⁹¹⁰

Irish airspace: Under Irish Air Navigation Orders, carrying munitions of war through Irish sovereign airspace requires ministerial authorisation. The Ditch documented at least seven Lufthansa flights carrying IDF-bound F-35 components transiting Irish airspace without confirmed authorisation between 2021 and February 2025.¹¹¹² No Irish prosecution of Lufthansa has been publicly reported.

US DOT civil-rights fine ($4 million, 2024): The US Department of Transportation fined Lufthansa a record $4 million in October 2024 for discriminating against 128 Jewish passengers in a May 2022 Frankfurt incident.¹³ This matter is unrelated to military/defence conduct but is a significant regulatory action against the group. No German export-control enforcement against Lufthansa Group related to Israel military cargo has been identified.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

Declassified UK broke and followed the story of Lufthansa Cargo’s brief military-cargo embargo and subsequent resumption (December 2025), citing confirmation from Lufthansa Cargo and commentary from British arms-control researchers.¹⁰ The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre documented Lufthansa’s suspension of military shipments within the international humanitarian law context of the Gaza conflict.¹⁴ The Ditch (Ireland) conducted a sustained investigation documenting Lufthansa’s transport of IDF munitions through Irish airspace, with specific flight numbers, routing data, and cargo manifests.¹¹¹² Palestine Chronicle covered the December 2025 Lufthansa Cargo arms embargo.¹⁵ No documented NGO campaign specifically targeting Lufthansa at scale has been identified as of June 2026.

End Notes