Excellent thread where @gresselgustav.bsky.social raises some good points I hadn’t considered in detail.
If Germany hadn’t already ordered the F-35, I’d say we shouldn’t do it.
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If Germany hadn’t already ordered the F-35, I’d say we shouldn’t do it.
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Reposted from
Gustav C Gressel
1/ In 🇩🇪 and elsewhere the discussion on whether or not the F35 should be cancelled or not starts to gain traction. Can we afford to cancel it? Can we replace it?
Complicated, and the discussion would be more credible if not led by commercial rivals of Lockheed-Martin.
www.welt.de/politik/deut...
Complicated, and the discussion would be more credible if not led by commercial rivals of Lockheed-Martin.
www.welt.de/politik/deut...
Comments
A) When did you fly it
B) When did you operate against it
C) In which service did you maintain it as an engineer
If the answer to any of this is no, then opinion is regurgitation of other sources.
You will neither
A) fly it
nore
B) maintain it.
And this is what we are talking about here.
Not about the platform‘s abilities.
That is either a) hands on experience with the aircraft b) access to top level ISTAR material regarding new air defence systems c) an in-depth engineers knowledge of the airframe
If you have none of these but only ‘sources’, it’s mere opinion.
So we need to think carefully here. Nobody is putting Grippen or Typhoon on these things.
BUY TYPHOON! BUY GRIPPEN!
How long to ramp up build? What about other countries needs? Time frames? Rates? We are on a clock. Two years, maybe three.
All questions needing answers….
Four years ago, the idea of the Russian Fencer carrying Storm Shadow was laughable. These are engineering challenges. Nothing more.
Apache also cannot carry nukes🤦♂️Doesn’t make it useless.
But none if them were considered to be a fast replacement to carry nuclear weapons.
And that was the reason why Germany purchased the F35.
If you have neither full control over the platform nore over the weapon system engineering is the last problem to care about.
If possible this requirement gab should be filled with a capable European alternative...
Becoming dependend from a fascist regime should be stated there - but hey, wasn‘t it Christine Lamprecht, negotiating that?
🤔🤦🏼♂️
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a bad feeling about it.
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Who is going to enforce any penalties?
Trump doesn't care about law and order either, so why should we?
So you can skip the "orderd" status.
Would make it very costly, but not impossible.
https://www.flugrevue.de/militaer/baubeginn-bei-lockheed-martin-deutschlands-erste-f-35a-ist-in-der-mache/
https://bsky.app/profile/aidefranceukr.bsky.social/post/3ljpnawlqwc2g
At least the plan to buy 8 more should be seriously reconsidered.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-looking-into-buying-eight-additional-lockheed-f-35-jets-source-says-2024-06-07/
This plane needs spares and has diverse remote accesses to controls.
It can get grounded by rogue 🇺🇸 at any time - like now 🇺🇦HiMars
You dont have to cancel, but you will need to do more anyway.
They may regret that precedent.
This is where we're at, with the current occupant of the White House.
This won't make up the entire difference, but explains part of it.
However the F-35 has an admittedly low sales price (comparable to Jas 39 Gripen) for what it offers due to the high production volume.
Operational costs are a different matter however
https://bsky.app/profile/andeu.bsky.social/post/3lilw2rf4dc2a
Or get a non US engine variant made of the Gripen.
The U.S. is an "adversary nation". Live with it.