switzerland and finland have joined the f-35 club a development that will greatly
strengthen the integrated european power structure in the future denmark norway
poland italy and the uk have all made measurable progress with their respective f-35 programs
notably the british f-35 is in service with the usf-35b aboard the royal navy's hms
queen elizabeth denmark recently received its first f-35a lightning
ii and the netherlands declared in december that its f-35 fleet was operationally capable
all these recent developments have significantly changed the prevention equation in europe
this raises an important question which european country will join the next f-35 club
germany is an ally that can make a big contribution to multinational
interoperability if it embraces the f-35 however over the last few years several reports have
suggested that german decision makers prefer the euro fighter typhoon one potential reason
for this is germany's interest in maintaining european production of luftwaffe fighter jets
an earlier story in the national interest cites experts and decision makers that highlighted the
work to be made by sticking with the euro fighter however recent developments could
affect the equation for germany first lockheed martin continues to expand its maintenance
construction and vendor base in europe to support its growing f-35 customer base this opens up
the possibility for european-based vendors to subcontract lockheed and create thousands of jobs
beyond the potential economic impact there are a growing number of strategic
and tactical reasons why germany could benefit from joining a multinational f-35
force the f-35s multi-function advanced data link model provides a multinational network
advantage by offering secure connectivity between f35s from different countries
this massively improves sensor to shooter time surveillance data networks
and targeting information transmission in addition emerging innovations will improve
connectivity between fourth and fifth generation aircraft enhanced connectivity will allow these
fighters to create connected networks capable of responding to emerging threats in real time
finally much can be said about the capability and performance differences between the euro
fighter typhoon and the f-35 the f-35 may be more capable in terms of stealth characteristics
range and precision of sensors computing and weapons applications
in addition to increasing german interoperability with allied fleets the f-35 will introduce a new
level of technological sophistication and upgradeability for the luftwaffe
current thinking suggests that the f-35 with its ability to accept software upgrades that
extend its sensing and communications technologies could remain well established well into the 2070s