Brilliant piece on the Ajax vs Puma comparison. The cultural barier to buying allied equipment runs even deeper than nationalism, its tied to domestic defense lobbies who convinced parliaments that "sovereign capability" means building everything at home. I saw this firsthand in procurement discussions where the real objection wasnt quality but the optics of job losses. Honestly the irony is that this fragmentation makes Europe less sovereign, not more.
And I didn't just make it up - though there's probably no 'kill switch', the software update cycle means that US-made jets could be made ineffective quite quickly if cut off from support. More here: https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/10/f-35-kill-switch-myth/
Brilliant piece on the Ajax vs Puma comparison. The cultural barier to buying allied equipment runs even deeper than nationalism, its tied to domestic defense lobbies who convinced parliaments that "sovereign capability" means building everything at home. I saw this firsthand in procurement discussions where the real objection wasnt quality but the optics of job losses. Honestly the irony is that this fragmentation makes Europe less sovereign, not more.
"If it came to scrambling our US-made fighter jets, are we confident that we could turn them on?" Well that's a terrifying thought!
And I didn't just make it up - though there's probably no 'kill switch', the software update cycle means that US-made jets could be made ineffective quite quickly if cut off from support. More here: https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/10/f-35-kill-switch-myth/
In that case I really hope someone has a plan B for if the 'smart' features of F35s were to start acting up.