Tuesday, April 01, 2025

Europeans Will Build Their Own F-35 Kill Switch

Traditionally,  Europeans have built their own kill switches for their aircraft. Don't blame America.

There is no "kill switch" that lets America disable allied F-35s

In the shadow of escalating tensions between Europe and the United States over NATO commitments and the war in Ukraine, a persistent myth about the F-35 Lightning II has exploded online: the notion that the Pentagon has embedded a “kill switch” in the fifth-generation fighter jet, allowing it to remotely disable or impair the aircraft operated by foreign allies.

Honestly, it could be a revised Russian information operation to kill a plane they fear. The Russians are persistent and bold liars.

And traditionally, the real "kill switch" has been the failure of allies to buy the spare parts and missiles that keep their planes fighting for more than four days. We saw that weakness in the fight against ISIL; and earlier over Libya, which the Europeans made a plan to solve.

Only allies looking for an excuse to avoid re-arming will claim this allegation is true. 

NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.

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NOTE: I made the image with Bing.