F-35 America is hidden in fighting, but the radar lights up in the Trump trade war

The last reaction came after Trump’s tariff entered 39 % on Switzerland on Thursday, prompting the legislators there to demand the government to cancel its order of $ 9.1 billion. Lockheed Martin airplane.

One of the Swiss politicians said, according to Bloomberg.

In 2022, Switzerland ended a contract 36 f-35s To replace F/A-18 Hornets and F-5 Tigers fleets. At that time, its price was $ 6.25 billion, but the costs have increased since then, partly due to inflation. This created some friction between the United States and Switzerland before the last tariff.

Nevertheless, the escalation comes on the F-35 deal, a few days after Spain was excluded from the purchase of F-35, saying that it will instead buy Eurofighter or Air Combat Air Future, which is still under development as a joint program between France, Germany and Spain. In June, Trump criticized Spain for refusing to commit to the goal of spending defense in NATO by 5 % of GDP by 2035.

Earlier this year, Portugal and CanadaAlso, NATO allies, expressed second ideas about the purchase of F-35 amid doubts about the American security commitment and the definitions looming on the horizon.

“The last American position in the context of NATO and the international geological dimension makes us think about the best options, because the ability to predict our allies is a factor that must be calculated,” said Nuno Milo, Minister of Defense of Portugal.

Canada also said in March that she was searching for other combat aircraft as the political momentum grew to cancel a $ 13 billion deal for 88 F-35s signed in 2023. While Canada had committed to money in the first 16 aircraft, it could turn to European aircraft after accepting this group from the F-35s.

But Thursday, I told the sources Reuters Canadian defense officials strongly bought all 88 F-35s, with an official recommendation stopping.

Pentagon’s joint P-35 office office did not respond immediately to request a comment. Lockheed said: “Foreign military sales are transactions from the government to the government, and it is better to address this issue by American or Qatari governments.”

Other allies are enhanced by F-35 orders

Switzerland’s orders are certainly small compared to Lockheed total F-35. Hundreds of F-35s are already used in the American army and among major allies around the world. During the production cycle, the Pentagon plans to buy about 2,400 F-35s for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Air Force, to replace non-aging fighters.

Jpmorgan estimated that F-35 would represent 25 % of Lockheed’s sales this year. In the second quarter, the company’s sales, which include combat aircraft such as F-35, increased by 2 % from last year and include 41 % of total sales.

Meanwhile, other countries added to their orders recently, including 12 others from the United Kingdom, 11 others from Belgium, and at least 10 others from Denmark.

It can be more on the way like last month A commercial deal for us-the European Union The European Union calls for “huge amounts” of American weapons.

The Pentagon was awarded for the first time Lockheed the F-35 contract in 2001, and the program was a permanent perforated bag due to cost excesses, delay and its huge price. After including the development, manufacture, operation and maintenance expenditures of its fleet from the F-35S on the total service life of the fighter, the Ministry of Defense will cost the program 1.8 trillion dollars.

But while the Pentagon and Boeing They develop the next generation F-47 stealth fighterWhich will also fly alongside self-ruling drones, the F-35 is expected to form the backbone of the American fighter fleet for decades.

Currently, F-35 is still the most advanced fighter currently available for us the allies to buy. It has also proven itself in actual combat tasks, the last of which is by the Israeli Air Force against targets in Iran.

In February, analysts in Jpmorgan maintained that F-35 is a decisive ability For the United States and its allies.

“Despite all criticisms, F-35 still provides a great capacity in A. relatively They wrote in a note: “The uninhabited capabilities deserve to continue, which is why it continues to achieve good performance in international competitions.