Trump rattled the F-35 program, but allies aren't bailing out just yet
A couple of NATO allies are exploring alternatives to the F-35 stealth fighter.
A handful of countries that operate the aircraft told BI that they are still committed to the jet.
Analysts said there aren't many good reasons to walk away from the program just yet.
The Trump administration stirred up some turbulence for the F-35 stealth fighter program, but even though a couple of allies have expressed uncertainty, there hasn't been a wave of partners jumping ship, at least not yet.
The Trump administration's dismissive attitude toward Europe's defense and other tensions saw Canada and Portugal reconsider their interest in the F-35 stealth fighter jet — a fifth-generation plane made by US defense giant Lockheed Martin and one of America's top weapons exports.
It opened the door to a possible European alternative to the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. Saab has signaled that there are talks underway about the JAS 39 Gripen fighter.
Other countries that operate the F-35 told Business Insider that they have no plans to walk away from the platform right now. Some emphasized their commitment to the fighter and desire to preserve the close defense cooperation with the US.
Lockheed has said that F-35 sales matters are between the US government and buyers.
The F-35 is in service with militaries around the world and has seen extensive combat experience since its first flight roughly 20 years ago. The world's most expensive weapons program is grappling with maintenance and sustainability challenges, but it is considered a top fifth-generation fighter.
Portugal's defense minister said last month that it should reconsider replacing its F-16s with F-35s. He said the US stance on security issues is concerning. Shortly after, Canada's defense chief said Ottawa would look into possible F-35 alternatives amid tensions with the Trump administration over tariffs and other threats.
Both Portugal and Canada are NATO allies, although Lisbon is not currently an F-35 customer. Ottawa, meanwhile, is an original program participant, which puts it in a somewhat unique position.
A Canadian defense ministry spokesperson previously told BI the country is not canceling its planned F-35 procurement; aircraft deliveries are set to begin next year. They said that the military is "in the early stages of scoping the review in a way that is both efficient and thorough."
So far, Portugal and Canada are the only two countries to publicly suggest they could pivot away. The defense ministries of four F-35 program participants — the UK, Australia, Denmark, and the Netherlands — expressed their continued support for the plane in statements to BI last month.
The UK said that the F-35 is part of its new defense industrial strategy. Australia said it was "committed to continued investment" in the aircraft. Denmark and the Netherlands specifically highlighted their close cooperation with the US and their intentions to preserve the relationship.
Poland, another customer, said its F-35 program will continue on schedule. A defense ministry spokesperson told BI: "Currently, there are no decisions on the possible termination of the agreements signed with the American side."
Germany, likewise, has signaled it is sticking with the program as well. Berlin is waiting for an order of 35 F-35s.
Analysts pointed to several reasons why countries are staying with the F-35, among them being the commitment to the program and the amount of work that would be required to pivot away from the aircraft to something new.
Richard Aboulafia, an aviation expert and managing director of the US consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, explained that many countries already have a large number of F-35s they've ordered and have paid for the planes even if they haven't yet been delivered.
"It's too late to turn back. What can they say?" he told BI.
Aboulafia also said that the F-35 is a better fighter than any of its competition (like the Eurofighter Typhoon jet), and allies would need "very strong reasons" to abandon the aircraft.
Increasingly capable surface-to-air missile systems and fighter upgrades make fifth-generation capabilities appealing, especially as sixth-gen capabilities are still years away.
The contract for the first US sixth-gen fighter aircraft, the F-47, was only recently awarded. And despite claims to the contrary, drone technology isn't to the point that it can replace sophisticated crewed fighters.
Unlike the fourth-generation fighters, the F-35 features all-aspect stealth, advanced avionics, high-end sensors, and networking solutions, giving the jet the ability to execute a range of missions, from air-to-air combat to strike, and also quarterback a fight.
The jet comes in three variants. The F-35A features a cannon, the F-35B is capable of short-takeoff/vertical landing that is useful for amphibious assault ships and some European aircraft carriers, and the F-35C is built for US Navy carrier operations.
Allies overseas operate the A and B variants. Japan has an order for over 100 F-35As and more than 40 F-35Bs, which can be operated from its Izumo-class destroyer vessels. The UK has bought Bs for its Queen Elizabeth-class carriers.
US allies and partners have been able to find key combat solutions for a wide range of missions using the F-35's capabilities. Israel, for example, demonstrated the F-35's combat power in impactful strikes on Iran.
Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and a senior advisor on defense and security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the F-35's maintenance, training, and parts supply process are too extensive and expensive for a country to change plans on a dime.
"Most countries struggle to maintain a single fighter aircraft. They could not support two different supply chains and training pipelines," Cancian told BI.
While other countries have yet to abandon the F-35 program, they might possibly decide to do so down the road if a more viable alternative presents itself. Right now, though, the jet is really the only fifth-generation aircraft in town, the only option available to the US and its allies.
Aboulafia said some F-35 customers may still have a question mark looming over them. He stressed that the bigger issue is that larger customers still buying F-35s, like the UK and Japan, could shift their focus to other multinational efforts to develop fighter aircraft.
Two potential examples are the Global Combat Air Programme, a project led by the UK, Italy, and Japan to jointly build a sixth-generation fighter, and the KAI KF-21 Boramae, a South Korean-led initiative.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Feds seek to ditch settlement over alleged redlining with North Jersey bank
The Trump administration is asking a judge to drop a 2022 settlement the Justice Department had reached with North Jersey-based Lakeland Bank — which was later absorbed by Provident Bank — over allegations of redlining against Black and Hispanic customers. While Provident Bank said it will continue to provide low-cost mortgages to underserved communities, the motion by the U.S. Justice Department to abandon the settlement has drawn the ire of community advocates and legal experts, who say it would make it easier for banks to engage in redlining. 'It goes without saying it's a good thing when financial institutions are complying with those consent orders, but when you take away the teeth — the actual enforcement — who's to say that they will continue to comply,' said Leila Amirhamzeh, director of community reinvestment for New Jersey Citizen Action, a consumer advocacy four-page motion by the Justice Department, filed May 28 in U.S. District Court, seeks to terminate the consent order the Biden administration negotiated with what was then Lakeland Bank. In the initial complaint, the Justice Department said Lakeland violated the federal Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act by deliberately avoiding banking with Black and Hispanic customers, particularly in and around Newark. The discrimination in question allegedly took place between 2015 and 2021, according to the Biden administration. To settle the complaint, Lakeland agreed to pay $12 million to subsidize mortgages, home improvement loans and home refinancing loans for Black and Hispanic residents and open two branches in underserved neighborhoods. Lakeland also had to provide $150,000 a year for advertising, outreach and consumer finance education in the Newark area. Newark Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ras Baraka wanted one of those new branches to be in his city, and the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce also wanted a branch in its area. According to the Provident Bank website, there are currently four locations in Newark and three in Toms River. After acquiring Lakeland, Provident took ownership of the settlement and the mandate to open two branches in underserved areas of New Jersey. The Justice Department in its motion to terminate the order said Lakeland reached substantial commitment to comply with the consent agreement and it is committed to continuing its disbursement of the loan subsidy. Provident spokesperson Keith Buscio told and the USA TODAY Network New Jersey that the bank remains committed to the loan subsidy initiative. He said Provident is not a party to the litigation and referred other questions to the Justice Department. The Justice Department could not immediately be reached for comment. Baraka's office in Newark said it is planning to hold a press conference about the motion by the Justice Department on June 5. Court filings show two attorneys who helped file the initial complaint against Lakeland, Michael Campion and Susan Millenky, withdrew as counsel from the case. Campion was appointed in 2022 to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office's Civil Rights Division that was created to enforce federal civil rights laws in New Jersey. The Fair Housing Act was passed as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 to prohibit landlords and mortgage lenders from discriminating based on race, religion, national origin or sex. Nearly 60 years later, racial wealth disparity remains vast. In New Jersey, the median household wealth of white families is $322,500, compared with $17,700 for Black families and $26,100 for Hispanic families, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice said. In New Jersey, 77.3% of white residents owned a home in 2020. By comparison, 42.8% of Black residents and 32.7% of Hispanic residents were homeowners, according to the Urban Institute, a research group. Critics said the Justice Department's motion to drop the Lakeland settlement is a step by the Trump administration's bid to reverse diversity, equity and inclusion programs. David Troutt, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark, said the motion by the Justice Department to terminate the consent decree is part of a larger campaign by the department to rescind investigations and agreements involving anti-Black racism, while beginning investigations into what it deems 'illegal DEI.' 'The Trump administration's withdrawal from a federal consent decree without justification is an extraordinary act of endorsing racist practices and housing market manipulation,' Troutt said. 'For the very government that successfully enforced those borrowers' civil rights to now repudiate them sends a message unlike any we've seen since the federal government first endorsed redlining in the 1930s,' Troutt said. Lakeland isn't the only New Jersey bank that faced scrutiny under the Biden administration. Toms River-based OceanFirst Financial Corp. agreed to pay $14 million to subsidize mortgages, helping settle a lawsuit that alleged the bank violated federal discrimination laws. Since then, it has improved the rating given by federal bank regulators who oversee investments in underserved communities to 'outstanding.' The Justice Department hasn't filed a motion seeking to terminate the consent order with OceanFirst. But two attorneys who represented the U.S. in the initial complaint, Millenky and Nathan Shulock, have filed motions to withdraw from the case, according to the court docket. A combined 22 Provident and Lakeland branches closed in 2024 following the $1.3 billion merger creating a 'super community bank.' Each branch that closed was within roughly three miles of a nearby branch. Activists and opponents warned that the merger would mean fewer banking services would be available for underserved communities, such as people of color, the elderly and disabled. New Jersey Citizen Action applauded Provident for its continued commitment to the terms of the consent order. But the group said the Justice Department should continue to enforce it. 'When you actually terminate these consent orders, there's no deterrence, and it's basically telling financial institutions that the Department of Justice is going to be taking a hands-off approach to fair lending issues, to redlining,' New Jersey Citizen Action's Amirhamzeh said. Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for and The Record. Email: munozd@ Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter for the Asbury Park Press. He has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry since 1999. He can be reached at mdiamond@ This article originally appeared on Feds seek to drop Lakeland Bank settlement over alleged redlining
Los Angeles Times
31 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump formally asks Congress to claw back approved spending targeted by DOGE
WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday officially asked Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved spending, taking funding away from programs targeted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. It's a process known as 'rescission,' which requires President Donald Trump to get approval from Congress to return money that had previously been appropriated. Trump's aides say the funding cuts target programs that promote liberal ideologies. The request, if it passes the House and Senate, would formally enshrine many of the spending cuts and freezes sought by DOGE. It comes at a time when Musk is extremely unhappy with the tax cut and spending plan making its way through Congress, calling it on Tuesday a 'disgusting abomination' for increasing the federal deficit. White House budget director Russ Vought said more rescission packages and other efforts to cut spending could follow if the current effort succeeds. ' Here's what to know about the rescissions request: The request to Congress is unlikely to meaningfully change the troublesome increase in the U.S. national debt. Tax revenues have been insufficient to cover the growing costs of Social Security, Medicare and other programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the government is on track to spend roughly $7 trillion this year, with the rescission request equaling just 0.1% of that total. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at Tuesday's briefing that Vought would continue to cut spending, hinting that there could be additional efforts to return funds. 'He has tools at his disposal to produce even more savings,' Leavitt said. Vought said he can send up additional rescissions at the end of the fiscal year in September 'and if Congress does not act on it, that funding expires.' 'It's one of the reasons why we are not putting all of our expectations in a typical rescissions process,' he added. A spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview some of the items that would lose funding, said that $8.3 billion was being cut from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. NPR and PBS would also lose federal funding, as would the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR. The spokesperson listed specific programs that the Trump administration considered wasteful, including $750,000 to reduce xenophobia in Venezuela, $67,000 for feeding insect powder to children in Madagascar and $3 million for circumcision, vasectomies and condoms in Zambia. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., complimented the planned cuts and pledged to pass them. 'This rescissions package reflects many of DOGE's findings and is one of the many legislative tools Republicans are using to restore fiscal sanity,' Johnson said. 'Congress will continue working closely with the White House to codify these recommendations, and the House will bring the package to the floor as quickly as possible.' Members of the House Freedom Caucus, among the chamber's most conservative lawmakers, said they would like to see additional rescission packages from the administration. 'We will support as many more rescissions packages the White House can send us in the coming weeks and months,' the group said in a press release. Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, gave the package a less optimistic greeting. 'Despite this fast track, the Senate Appropriations Committee will carefully review the rescissions package and examine the potential consequences of these rescissions on global health, national security, emergency communications in rural communities, and public radio and television stations,' the Maine lawmaker said in a statement. Boak writes for the Associated Press.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Citigroup reverses firearms policy after pressure from Trump administration on big banks
A month after the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Citigroup enacted restrictions for its clients that sold firearms — the first major bank on Wall Street to do so. On Tuesday, the bank rolled back that policy. 'We also will no longer have a specific policy as it relates to firearms,' the company said in a statement Tuesday. 'The policy was intended to promote the adoption of best sales practices as prudent risk management and didn't address the manufacturing of firearms.' The decision comes as the Trump administration alleges that Wall Street is biased against conservatives — a right-wing talking point since more than a dozen state auditors accused Bank of America of 'politicized de-banking' in an open letter last year (de-banking is when a bank closes an account for a customer it deems high risk). At the time, Bank of America said it has 'no political litmus test.' On Tuesday, Citi said it was 'following regulatory developments, recent Executive Orders and federal legislation.' In 2018, Citi said it would ban banking services to businesses that sold firearms to those under 21, those who didn't pass a background check, or sold bump stocks (used by the gunman in the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas) or high-capacity magazines. The policy applied to small businesses, commercial and institutional clients, and credit card partners, but did not restrict how individual customers used their cards. Big banks have recently caught the ire of the president as well as the crypto industry. In January at the annual World Economic Forum, President Donald Trump scolded Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America. 'You've done a fantastic job, but I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank,' Trump said. 'You and Jamie and everybody… What you're doing is wrong,' referring to JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon. Citigroup also announced on Tuesday that it will update its employee Code of Conduct and its external Global Financial Access Policy 'to clearly state that we do not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation in the same way we are clear that we do not discriminate on the basis of other traits such as race and religion.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
