Good article, but this is old news, and it is not only about the german navy. We were already joking in october, 2017, that there was no navy, and a common joke was "what has the german Luftwaffe of today in common with that of may 5th, 1945: Four combat-ready jet fighters!"
This all comes at a time where there is a lot of change everywhere, in the german army. The transition to smart weapons and special equipment has taken more time than planned, another example being the sub-par engine gearboxes for the Airbus 400m that has stalled an, in every other respect, brilliant transport aircraft. My guess is that the description of its planned flight envelope is too demanding, it really is an aircraft at current technology's edge. This is pioneering work, maybe they should have looked at the C17's problems back then to get a glimpse what awaits them.
But it is true, industry seems to be incapable to provide enough of the stuff in time, and since this one is an international project, a nation alone cannot easily sue a company of another nation..
This is currently being sorted out and companies will be made responsible and liable
by all the countries involved.
Regarding the U-boats this is a new technology, and a real store for spare parts does not exist yet. There is also a planned change from lead to Lithium batteries. They try to implement as much as possible, when the boats are being maintained anyway.
But the US can be happy, if we are too dumb to build transporters, helicopters and fighters we may as well buy them from you.
I would not, but i have no say in this
