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0 pointseduction1y ago0 comments

> buying the very few white elephants that won't actually make a difference

There’s a lot to criticize in the f 35 program but there seems to be enough there there for it to succeed markedly in the export market - beyond Germany there is Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Romania and UK — and that’s just in Europe. This includes several countries that did not historically equip with US kit (and excludes Turkey, which ordered it before it got sanctioned). You’re saying all those countries have made a huge mistake?

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littlestymaar1y ago· 2 in thread

They made a political purchase at a time when they didn't expect to have any real use for those planes, so the actual capability price ratio didn't really matter.

eductionOP1y ago

In that case, would Gripen have been a wise order either? Germany already has Typhoon. There is a history of Typhoon equipped countries ordering f35 because it’s a generation ahead. But Gripen is same generation as Typhoon.

littlestymaar1y ago

Probably not, you're right, the logical choice, from a capability perspective, would have been a modernization of the Eurofighter and/or and the pursuite of a Next Generation European Fighter program. (Which could have been much less expensive than the f-35 program if given less exotic requirements).

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