BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Germany's budget committee on

Wednesday approved the procurement of 20 more Eurofighter jets

for around 3.75 billion euros ($4.36 billion), according to the

defence ministry.

The so-called tranche 5 of Eurofighter jets is to be

delivered to the air force between 2031 and 2034.

Within the NATO alliance, the new jets are important for

data collection and electronic warfare, said Andreas Schwarz,

who handles budget for the coalition partner Social Democrats.

"This will ensure the military operational capability of the

Eurofighter until 2060," the lawmaker added.

In total, the committee approved 14 proposals that surpass

the threshold of 25 million euros, requiring committee approval,

for a value of more than 7 billion euros, said the ministry.

"Over the course of the year, we will be submitting further

armaments projects on a considerable scale to the German

Bundestag in order to continue the positive momentum in

procurement for the operational readiness of the Bundeswehr and

the needs-based equipping of our soldiers," the ministry added.

($1 = 0.8596 euros)

(Reporting by Holger Hansen, writing by Miranda Murray, editing

by Thomas Seythal)