BERLIN, July 11 (Reuters) - Germany has no plans to

procure additional F-35 fighter jets, a defence ministry

spokesperson said on Friday, denying a Politico report that the

country planned to grow its planned fleet to 50.

So far, Germany has ordered 35 of the U.S.-made jets to

replace a total of 85 ageing Tornado fighter jets that will be

decommissioned.

"The defence ministry currently has no plans to procure

additional F-35s beyond the 35 F-35s already contractually

agreed," the spokesperson said at a regular news conference.

A military source told Reuters that the figure of 15

additional F-35 jets had been part of previous considerations,

but that the numbers needed to be adapted after NATO's new

targets for weapons and troop numbers.

The new targets suggest the initial figure was not large

enough and the actual number of additional F-35s needed might be

bigger in the end, although the source would not confirm this.

The Politico report comes amid tensions between Germany and

France on the joint Franco-German fighter jet FCAS partnership

after a report earlier this week that France now wants a

workshare of 80%.

The demand would scrap the agreed division of tasks and

possibly stop the project from entering its next phase, an

industry source told Reuters.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that

differences remained on the configuration of the FCAS project,

which has been plagued by delays and infighting over workshare

and intellectual property rights.