A widespread concern is what would happen to Dutch weapon systems if the Americans were to withdraw completely as an ally. For example, Dutch F-35 aircraft are dependent on American software updates. Yet, Tuinman isn’t particularly worried about this.
“The F-35 is truly a shared product. The British make the Rolls-Royce engines, and the Americans simply need them too.” And even if this mutual dependency doesn’t result in software updates, the F-35, in its current state, is still a better aircraft than other types of fighters.
If you still want to upgrade despite everything, I’m going to say something I should never say, but I will anyway: you can jailbreak an F-35 just like an iPhone. (Crack it with your own software, ed.)
My question would be: do we really need a next-gen, multi-mission stealth fighter to safeguard ourselves from the Russians?
I’m not saying that’s not a relevant question.
But also, there’s not that many countries making their own military hardware anymore (fighter attack, electronic attack, stealth, or even just bombers). The ones that do are all pretty much on a fascism kick (Russia, China, USA).
And while we’re at it, The SU-57 would like a word. Because it’s the main reason so many countries do want the F35.