19-03-2025
Fighter Jet Fury Makes Macron's Planes Look Good
Can Europe rearm without America? It's a question that nobody was asking a few years ago, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted a €100 billion ($109 billion) German splurge on US-made F-35 fighter jets and Boeing Co. helicopters. Between 2020 and 2024, the US accounted for almost two-thirds of European arms imports; France, with its pride in more home-made kit like the Dassault Aviation SA Rafale plane, has been a Gaullist outlier.
Donald Trump's antics have since made Emmanuel Macron's approach — which includes buying more Rafales — look good. The US president has insulted continental allies. He's imposed tariffs and threatened to tear up defense commitments while scrambling to seal a Ukraine deal. Several countries are now reviewing F-35 orders, both because of optics and deeper concerns about reliance on an increasingly unpredictable hegemon. The idea that Trump could deactivate allies' weapons systems is no longer impossible, think tank EUISS recently said, giving added urgency to European Union plans to reduce ' excessive ' import dependencies.
