The addition of Growlers to the plan would also offer a more direct replacement for the Electronic Combat/Reconnaissance variants , or ECRs, in Germany's Tornado fleet. The Tornado ECRs are specifically configured to conduct suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) missions and have specialized systems to spot and locate enemy radars and other emitters.

SEAD is one of the Growler's missions sets, as well, but these aircraft offer far more robust electronic warfare capabilities, which you can read about in more detail in this past War Zone piece, over the older Tornado ECRs. Beyond simply replacing the Tornado ECRs, an improved aerial electronic warfare capability was also seen as another requirement to support the nuclear mission.

Growlers would be essential for protecting non-stealthy Super Hornets on nuclear, as well as conventional strikes missions, against a major adversary with a capable integrated air defense network, such as Russia. Existing and emerging air defense threats had been at the core of the argument that certain elements of the German military had made for buying stealthy F-35s. Growlers would also just be a major force multiplier for the entire German Air Force.

In November 2019, Airbus did announce plans for a two-seat Typhoon ECR variant and Handelsblatt said that the decision about which aircraft to pick was "highly controversial." The Growler has a significant advantage of being both in production and in service, both with the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force, already. The Navy is also underwriting upgrades for the Growler, as well as the Super Hornet, and Germany could easily benefit from those developments with minimal, if any direct investment on its part. This is not the case when it comes to Typhoon, where the German government has a major stake in the program.