Summary
European nations refute claims that the U.S. has a “kill switch” for F-35 fighter jets, despite concerns raised after Trump suspended military aid and intelligence support to Ukraine.
While no evidence confirms such a switch, experts warn the U.S. could limit access to crucial software updates.
Belgium and Switzerland assert their F-35s remain autonomous but acknowledge reliance on U.S. data systems.
Set to receive 35 F-35s in 2026, some German politicians are questioning whether the purchase should have been made amid these concerns.
Oh, I know. That’s the funny part.
And it’s deeper than that. Our military industrial complex has a SHITLOAD of customers in Europe by virtue of NATO system integration. I predict that American defense companies aren’t going to be winning any contracts amongst our (former?) allies for the foreseeable future. I furthermore predict that more than a few nations will eventually drop existing deals if we continue to be a massive dick to everyone - and we will, unfortunately, continue to be a massive dick to everyone.
Idk maybe we’ll start selling shit to Russia…? That would be fucking wild. But I honestly wouldn’t put it past Trump, and congress is some combination of enthusiastically fascistic, abysmally stupid, or deeply, fundamentally, fecklessly useless, so I don’t expect they’ll actually stand up to pressure from our new dictator once push comes to shove.