Fighter jet dependency

If Trump wants it, Europe’s F-35s will stay on the ground!

When the government in Berlin decided to purchase US F-35 fighter jets in spring 2022, there were protests from peace activists. Now the military is also taking a skeptical view of the jet - but for different reasons.

(Bild: AFP/TOBIAS SCHWARZ)

After Trump's clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky in the White House, things happened quickly: US arms deliveries were halted and reconnaissance data remained secret. This raises questions of dependency not only in Ukraine, which is dependent on arms supplies from the USA in its war with Russia. The reliability of US armaments is also being questioned throughout Europe.

What if Trump decides to cut off allies' access to US weapons technology? Or, worse still, to make US weapons technology that has already been exported unusable. These questions are on the minds of senior European military officials, who need to rearm in a big way to compensate for the shrinking US military presence in Europe. Rumors are circulating among them about a "killswitch" with which the Americans can render weapons such as the F-35 stealth jet unusable at the touch of a button. However, such a switch may not actually be necessary - Krone+ reveals why. And what alternatives Europe has to the US fighter jet.