BERLIN - German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius intends to order an additional 15 F-35 fighter jets from U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin, a parliamentary source told Reuters on Monday, confirming a report by Spiegel magazine. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius intends to order an additional 15 F-35 fighter jets from U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin, a parliamentary source told Reuters on Monday, confirming a report by Spiegel magazine.

  • Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    919·
    3 days ago

    Good. Europe and its allies must ramp up its own production capabilities, but as long as this isn’t the case, there is not much choice I assume.

    • Ziggurat@jlai.luEnglish
      211·
      3 days ago

      must ramp up its own production capabilities

      Which is why buying US made plane sucks,

      It’s especially a pitty for Germany who has a big industrial complex

        • Skua@kbin.earth
          8·
          3 days ago

          To be fair, whether or not the F-35 is the right choice here, the Eurofighter and the F-35 are for different jobs. The Eurofighter is first and foremost for fighting other aircraft, while the F-35 sacrifices some capability in that regard to be better at blowing up stuff on the ground. That’s why the Americans have both the F-22 and the F-35. The Eurofighter is our F-22, not our F-35

          I don’t doubt that the F-35 could take on most other aircraft very effectively, but a big country like Germany is spending enough and flying enough to warrant specialisation

          • remon@ani.socialEnglish
            41·
            3 days ago

            The Eurofighter is first and foremost for fighting other aircraft, while the F-35 sacrifices some capability in that regard to be better at blowing up stuff on the ground.

            The only major thing the F-35 is giving up is super-cruise, which makes it less suitable as an interceptor specifically.

            I don’t doubt that the F-35 could take on most other aircraft very effectively

            For general air-to-air combat and establishing air-superiority the F-35 is still vastly superior. Their stealth allows them to engage other air targets BVR before being spotted themselves. They have been wiping the floor with every other NATO aircraft except the F-22 in past red flag exercises.

            • Skua@kbin.earth
              4·
              3 days ago

              It’s also significantly heavier with the same thrust and less wing area, and its payload is limited unless it uses external hardpoints that worsen its stealthiness.

              I have read reporting on F-35s getting a 15-1 kill ratio at Red Flag 17, but it’s worth noting that the aggressor aircraft at that one were F-16s. That’s a capable plane in its own right of course, but it’s twice as old as the Typhoon and hasn’t had all of the same modernisation

              Oddly enough there’s actually an interview with two pilots of the relevant aircraft who duelled during an exercise last year in which they (very briefly) discuss some of the advantages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upqVaKWQ_EU

              • remon@ani.socialEnglish
                11·
                2 days ago

                Very interesting interview. I think they were training specifically for close air combat in the scenario, which is not something the F-35 is meant to do. But it makes sense to at least train for it. They just really briefly mention my point in the video at this timestamp.

      • gigachad@piefed.socialEnglish
        7·
        3 days ago

        Developing a fighting jet needs time, the aim for FCAS is 2040, and at the moment it looks like that is not going to happen. For the next 20 years an alternative is needed.

        • trollercoaster@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          212·
          3 days ago

          They are superior insofar that that crazy annoying orange Putin puppet across the pond can’t shut them down easily.

          • remon@ani.socialEnglish
            37·
            3 days ago

            The “kill-switch” is a myth.

            And as much as I’d like to piss of Trump by denying the US the business, it shouldn’t come at the expense of our military capabilities.

            • trollercoaster@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              14·
              3 days ago

              Even if there is no literal kill switch, you can easily ground a high tech gadget like a modern fighter jet in short order by ceasing delivery of spare parts.

              • remon@ani.socialEnglish
                35·
                3 days ago

                A good amount of the parts are already produced in Europe. Also there is over 20 F-35 operators already, almost all friendly to each other. Unless the US would cut of everyone from crucial spare part deliveries, they could still be sourced.

                Also if the US would actually do such a thing that would guarantee that no one will ever buy their fighter jets again and they love selling fighter jets. It’s just not a realistic scenario.

                • trollercoaster@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  10·
                  3 days ago

                  Also if the US would actually do such a thing that would guarantee that no one will ever buy their fighter jets again and they love selling fighter jets. It’s just not a realistic scenario.

                  The US has never done anything stupid that has damaged itself more than others, especially not the current government, right?

                  At this point, the US should be considered both an enemy and a Russian client state. Whenever Putin makes a phone call to Trump, he will parrot whatever Putin is saying for a couple weeks.

                  • remon@ani.socialEnglish
                    23·
                    3 days ago

                    I don’t think that Trump would be allowed to fuck with Lockheed Martin’s stock price.