cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5525782
European nations and Canada are “pushing away” from the F-35, motivated by a desire for “strategic autonomy” and political friction with the Trump administration
Spain officially canceled its F-35 purchase in August 2025, opting for European-built alternatives. Switzerland is now also reviewing its 36-jet deal after being hit with a “shocking” $1.3 billion price hike and new 39% U.S. tariffs, and recent reports suggest that Portugal has not opted to purchase the U.S. jets
Instead of the F-35, they are increasingly looking to European alternatives, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
Canada’s 88-jet deal is also in “limbo,” as PM Mark Carney, angered by Trump’s “51st state” comments and trade disputes, ordered a review of the 72 un-committed jets
Technological and industrial sovereignty are significant reasons why some countries are opting not to purchase the F-35. Some European nations prioritize developing their own defense industries and technological bases. Buying American-made F-35s would make them dependent on US supply chains and could suppress the development of their own next-generation aircraft programs. …
The effectiveness of drones on the modern battlefield is widely overstated and mostly a function of the complete lack fo discipline (or competence) the average russian conscript has. Which is why Ukraine has much fewer casualties to them.
Similarly, long range operations do more or less require a human for a mix of latency and signal strength.
But when you are allegedly sending “the greatest stealth fighter ever made” to get detected by enemy radar and attract missiles… yeah, that is a case where it makes a lot more sense to send out a drone.
Which gets into a huge discussion over what a “fighter jet” even is in 2025 and what is role is. Which is also exemplified by some of the greatest military propaganda of all time (Top Gun Maverick!!!) needing to make a REALLY convoluted reason to even have f/a jets in the area of operations… and then completely forgot about the massive walls of SAM sites when they wanted to let Tommy dogfight (which was fucking awesome…).
Which gets back to even more reasons “Canada and EU ditch f-35” doesn’t necessarily mean “Canada and EU buying more Typhoons”
Hmm, I dunno about that. I know that the US likes to downplay the effectiveness of drones, but they also aren’t the ones in a real war. I’m just very skeptical about people pitting their warfare theory against actual combat results.
Modern US and NATO armor/vehicles have air conditioning (and aren’t crammed full of stolen loot… before a battle). Just closing the hatch goes a LONG way towards limiting the effectiveness of a DJI with a hand grenade taped to it. Same with actually setting up the overhead cover to protect from mortar fire at night rather than just leaving said tanks to air out.
As for larger targets and installations? Most modern militaries (all EU/NATO?) have early warning systems that are effectively a microphone array used to pinpont where gunfire is coming from. Whether they are installed on ships/bases, taped to the back of a vehicle, or literally worn by infantry.
And drone engines tend to be pretty distinct noises. They might not come up until it is too late if you are having a conversation with your buddies but if you have a simple filter listening for them… Which is existing tech in place at airports and even the better funded public events.
At which point it becomes a much simpler version of the problem of shooting down ballistic missiles. Think stuff like the Phalanx which is basically a computer attached to a minigun with the human in the loop theoretically agreeing to fire.
Modern drones are very much along the same level of danger as mortars. If you are close enough to deploy one, you can cause some real chaos. But a competent military can minimize the threat considerably.
And… much like mortars, the real threat is against civilian targets where you might not have a machine gun or two controlled by a few microphones and a gimbal… yet. The world is real fucked so give it a few years until that is the norm in a lot of countries.