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.)
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.
Name another stealth jet that you can buy right now in significant numbers.
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.
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.
The dirt cheap drones, those of them that diverted by error or malfunction from their intended targets, that is, inside margin of error.
Using F-35s to shoot down that in an actual war with waves of those drones seems inefficient. Paying more than the attack costs. Raising a jet costs fuel and maintenance. It’s purely a very expensive peacetime solution near a conflict. Those drones should have been intercepted by ground AD batteries. Which in case of being a war participant and not a neighbor you will need.
As a strategic weapon yes.
OK, as part of common European defense yes, it’s just that it’s still not unified enough it seems. Perhaps a common European military with mandatory training and reserve enlistment for citizens, standardized equipment and procedures (OK, that already exists), united command and proscription and budget, would be better. Because when it’s decided by separate governments, you end up with F-35s shooting down random drones being used as a proof that the system works.
That would mean, of course, turning the EU into a confederation from a union.
It’s not just about defending the Netherlands but all of NATO, which involves deploying Dutch planes to eastern Europe, close to Russian AA systems for example.