Friedrich Merz's government A350 lands in Singapore the week of nuclear drills with France

Friedrich Merz / German Government Flight's Airbus A350-941, tail 10+02, was tracked departing Berlin Brandenburg International Airport on the morning of August 17, 2026, and arriving at Pulau Sudong Military Airstrip in Singapore shortly after midnight on August 18. The 13-hour, 41-minute flight across Eurasia and the South China Sea brought the aircraft to a restricted military installation typically used for bilateral defense exercises.

If aboard, Friedrich Merz / German Government Flight would arrive in Singapore the same week that France and Germany deepened their nuclear and defense cooperation during high-level talks at Nörvenich Air Base near Cologne, as covered by DW. During those consultations, Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed that Germany would participate in a French nuclear exercise for the first time later this year. "We are strengthening European deterrence," Friedrich Merz wrote on X, per DW. The trip to Singapore could involve parallel discussions with Asian partners on security architecture or follow-up talks on Europe's independent deterrent posture, though no official itinerary has been published.

The arrival follows a week of intense European diplomatic travel by Friedrich Merz's fleet. In the days prior, 10+02 tracked from Cologne to Scotland (August 14), then from Ireland to Cologne (also August 14), and from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Cologne (August 13). The Alaska leg suggests a prior engagement with NATO partners or a Pacific theater briefing. The German government has also been pursuing closer defense ties with Indo-Pacific nations, per Defense News, particularly after Friedrich Merz pledged German funding for Ukrainian long-range missile production in late May.