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.

    • trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works
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      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.social
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        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.works
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          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.social
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            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.works
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              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.social
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                3 days ago

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

                  • remon@ani.social
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                    2 days ago

                    But if there is any institution that can stop him, at least from fucking them over, it’s the military industrial complex.