You call F35 the best ? The thing cannot fly well on a rainy day & it has shit landing-gear.
Get Sukhois, Eurofighter, Migs or Gripen (Rafales are good too)
Comment on 'It's Possible to jailbreak F-35 like iPhone', Says Dutch State Secretary of Defense Tuinman
Humanius@lemmy.world 15 hours agoThe military wants the best equipment, and currently that is the American F-35.
That comes with a dependence on the United States, and at the time of purchasing these jets that dependence was not considered to be a particular concern because America is a good ally and a part of NATO.
Following Trump’s re-election and antics over Greenland, that calculation is now different. It might not be worth it to buy new F-35s at this point (though Germany seems to be considering it still), but the Dutch army has pre-existing F-35s which we should be able to use even if America doesn’t want us to for whatever reason.
MITM0@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
qaeta@lemmy.ca 13 hours ago
For a modern military, in a general sense, yes, the F35 is the best currently. Mostly due to it’s software and sensor suite which have a much larger impact on mission performance. It’s built to an assumption of US support, which means good runways and resilient supply lines. Russian fighters are out for the same reason US fighters should be out right now (can’t trust the government).
Canada is looking for new fighters, where I think the Gripen is actually better than the F35 for our specific use case (almost entirely defensive, rough runways in arctic conditions that the F35 struggles with, need for lower maintenance requirements due to manpower and budget issues). The Swedes deal with the same conditions we need a fighter for, plus they offered a full tech transfer to revitalize our aerospace industry and help achieve autonomy for operation of the Gripen.
real_squids@sopuli.xyz 11 hours ago
I can forget about stealth capabilities for a sec, but Migs, really? Enjoy your 6 mig29++++ ever built and wooden mockups of fifth gen planes.
vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 13 hours ago
With F-35’s costs, is it really the best equipment? I suspect the real reason is that replacing it is a gigantic undertaking that might be far more expensive short-term.
The components dependency part in fighter jets, though, is something they really should be able to solve. Those are very complex systems, but designed with integration and customization in mind. That’s one of the reasons they are so expensive. Slowly replacing everything in them with components from more reliable producers is normal for militaries. Well, for militaries with actual RnD and production, of course Uzbekistan or Colombia can’t do that, but Netherlands can.
real_squids@sopuli.xyz 11 hours ago
Name another stealth jet that you can buy right now in significant numbers.
vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 11 hours ago
Do Netherlands need a stealth jet at all? Perhaps a fleet of cheap drones is better.
I mean, in some “global power projection” context like USA or thinking of readiness for total war like Israel, those jets are not optional.
But the threat model of Netherlands is which? Considering it doesn’t even have mandatory military training.
real_squids@sopuli.xyz 9 hours ago
The question was about the best equipment, and it it’s class F-35 is (so far) the best, considering the price. I’m sure everyone and their grandma would want 100M worth of cheap anti-drone tech too but a contract’s a contract, and they get cool planes out of it. Planes that will get a shitload of upgrades in the near future, wingman uavs for example.
Iconoclast@feddit.uk 11 hours ago
It was Dutch F-35s that shot down the Russian drones over Poland. It could’ve just as well been a Russian fighter jet they scrambled to intercept.
Yeah, they do need a stealth jet. Stealth is what lets you fire your missiles before the enemy even knows you’re there.
remon@ani.social 11 hours ago
It’s not just about defending the Netherlands but all of NATO, which could involve deploying Dutch planes to eastern Europe, close to Russian AA systems.