The F-35 could be a victim of Trump's embryoning relations with EuropeExBulletin

A Multi-Role Fighter US Force F-35 Lightning II is flying on the Ramstein air base during a day of fighter plane exercises on June 6, 2024 in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images Hide Legend

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Increasing tensions with NATO on the American position on Ukraine and the escalation of President Trump, the trade war is now endangering a crucial aspect of the Alliance air strategy, because member countries indicate that they could move away from plans to buy F-35 fighters.

The F-35 is currently operated by the United States and 19 Allied nations, including certain non-natural members such as South Korea, Japan, Australia and Israel. But several NATO members are now preparing to acquire dozens of new F-35s to replace their aging fleets which include planes from the United States, Europe and even fighters from the Cold War.

However, Thursday, the Minister of Defense of Portugal underlined “the recent American position in the context of NATO” as a factor to rethink the replacement of 28 F-16 by F-35 Lightning IIS. Meanwhile, in one of his first actions as Prime Minister, Mark Carney of Canada called for an examination of his country's decision to buy a total of 88 F-35 a contract worth more than $ 13 billion. The order of Germany for 35 of the planes was also questioned.

The concept of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, which has finally become the F-35, dates back decades: the United States would direct the development of an airplane to use in NATO. With the Air Force, the naval and marine variants, the plane would have furtive capacities and advanced advanced sensors, a radar and a planeic which could play in roles of combat, ground attack and recognition. The F-35 was prey to overruns of massive costs and technical problems during development. In the end, however, it has become what some support is the best fighting plane in the world.

“The F-35 is a very good plane which has the best insurrection capacities and low observability,” explains Richard Aboulafia, managing director at Aerodynamic Advisory, an aerospace firm. If NATO abandons it, “this capacity will be lost,” he says.

There are advantages for NATO to use the same plan

The advantages for allies sharing the same aircraft design include a single communication platform, common “hard points” to transport NATO ammunition, the ease of training of pilots and maintenance teams and the possibility of sharing spare parts.

“It is easier to fight with allies when you use the same equipment,” explains the former representative of Texas Mac Thornberry who was a key defender of the F-35 project during his stay at Congress. He says that the true meaning of the allies moving away from the F-35 “would be a new deterioration in NATO cohesion, which our opponents would like to see.”

Lockheed Martin, the main entrepreneur of the F-35, said in a statement at the NPR that he values ​​his solid partnership with the Canadian Air Force and the Portuguese Air Force, but referred questions to military sales to the American government.

For countries that recuperate the F-35, a possible alternative is the Gripen Saab Jas-39 built by the Swedish, a less stealthy but faster and longer aircraft which is less compatible with NATO systems. It has the additional advantages of being much cheaper to buy than the F-35, with operational and lower maintenance costs.

The Gripen Hungarian Air Force fighter pounds draw their infrared counter-measures on the Danube river in Budapest on August 20, 2019, during an air show. Attila Kisbenedek / AFP via Getty Images Hide Legend

Toggle legend attila kisbenedek / afp via getty images

Margaret Kosal, a former manager of the Ministry of Defense who is an associate professor at the Sam Nunn School of Affairs of Georgia Tech, considers the sudden discomfort on the F-35 as a symptom of increasing mistrust within the alliance since Trump took office.

“I see it as a potential canary in the coal mine, reporting a lack of confidence in the United States,” she said.

Fear of a “killing switch”

In the midst of the controversy, the media through Europe expressed concern in the face of a “killing switch” which could be used by the United States to deactivate the F-35, even if European defense officials sought to cancel rumors. Earlier this month, the Belgian defense manager, General Frederik Vansina, insisted that the F-35 “is not a remote-controlled plane”, while the Ministry of Defense in Switzerland said that such a device was not possible.

Even if the “Kill Switch” is a myth, rumors probably show an absence of confidence, says Aboulafia. “You know, there is also the possibility that people watch this plane and say:” Heck yes, not only do we not want to give money in the United States, but we are also concerned with the fact that they cut support in the event of a conflict. “”

Given the opinion in Europe that Trump abandons NATO in favor of the Kremlin, in a hypothetical future conflict with Russia, Europe could fear that the United States can cut spare parts and updates for the F-35, says Aboulafia.

Meanwhile, the F-35 that the Government Office of Liability Projects will cost in the United States more than 2 billions of dollars throughout the life of the program has also faced growing criticism at home.

On X, Elon Musk, whose efficiency team has sought places to reduce the expenses of the federal government, described the F-35 “expensive and complex Jack of all trades, Master of None” and has published a video of Drone Swarms, commenting, “During this time, some idiots still build fuels fueled like the F-35.”

Aboulafia calls the assertion of Musk that the F-35 could be easily replaced by aircraft controlled at a distance “a complete fantasy for many different reasons,” stressing that Musk “used, as an example, a fleet of short-range quadcopters which would make about 30 miles before falling from the sky.” Trump, in the past, has also criticized the plane.

Washington Democratic representative Adam Smith, classification member of the Chamber Armed Services Committee, also called the F-35 project for cost exceeding. He says about the plane: “It's like getting a quarter in the NFL. You must have one, but you really hate finishing too much for mediocrity.”

Even so, Smith says “it will make things more difficult if we are looking for partners in a fight and that they do not have the same” platform.

The United States also rethinks the F-35

Seth Jones, president of the Department of Defense and Security of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), recognizes that “the United States itself rethinks the purchase of F-35” due to “questions about the question of whether the future is really without pilot and autonomous”.

Could NATO fight without the advantages inherent in the exploitation of a single type of plane such as the F-35?

“It will have a negative impact,” said Kosal by Georgia Tech. “But that will not significantly degrade” capabilities.

Jones says that the F-35 has “extraordinary capacities” which would be difficult or impossible to reproduce in existing planes.

“”[It] The ability to move within a bubble of refusal of Chinese or Russian anti -aircraft with furtive capacities for collecting information, as well as to draw “conventional or nuclear ammunition.

However, he says, if NATO countries are now determined to spend more for the defense, something that Trump has long asked for the warning in war in Europe could make them more sense. Jones points to Portugal, which has not yet added F-35 to its arsenal.

“If we start to see more a European defense identity, especially for Portugal, [it] Perhaps a more logical decision to withdraw something from the European production chain, rather than having to use the United States “

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