STUTTGART, Germany — The past four years have proved fruitful for Lockheed Martin in Europe, as six nations have hitched their wagons to the American company’s fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet.
Despite calls from French leaders for its neighbors to “buy European,” the F-35 has consistently beat out homegrown candidates in the most recent fighter jet competitions, including the Dassault Rafale, Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen, and the Eurofighter Typhoon developed by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
This wave of success comes down to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s high rate of interoperability with allies and partners, particularly in NATO, along with its guaranteed upgrade road map, analysts told Defense News. But more than anything, they noted, the jet arrived in Europe with pristine timing, as multiple nations were itching to refresh their fleets by the end of the decade.
Belgium in 2018 became the first Foreign Military Sales customer of the F-35 from Europe, committing to buying 34 F-35A aircraft. Two years later, Poland followed, and now plans to procure 32 F-35As.
In 2021, Switzerland and Finland each picked the platform to replace their respective F-18 Hornets, with the former committing to 36 aircraft and the latter to 64. Most recently, Germany is set to procure 35 F-35A aircraft to replace its nuclear weapons-carrying P-200 Tornado jets, and the Czech Republic has pledged to buy 24 F-35As as it retires its Gripens.
Formal procurement processes for Switzerland, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic have not yet begun, a Lockheed Martin official said in an email to Defense News. Eventually, the company expects more than 550 F-35s will be stationed in Europe by 2030, to include U.S. Air Force squadrons based at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England.
Other European program participants include Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.
**Contracts and pushback**
Part of the F-35′s success in Europe comes down to great timing, as many European air forces prepare to recapitalize their fourth-generation fleets, said Douglas Barrie, a senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“Partly by design and partly by good fortune, the F-35 turned up at the right time,” he told Defense News.
[deleted]
You’ve not copied all of the article OP.
F-35 is the only 5. generation fighter in the market.
There are a lot of 4. generation fighters, they’d be good for a war in the 1990s, but they are not up to the task with current anti aircraft systems.
I wouldn’t say swept Europe at all, I understand that given all the countries that are part of the program and other buyers in Europe can give the impression of a sweeping, France is not even a topic and Germany basically gave the program a middle finger, only ordering the bare minimum of units needed to participate in nuclear sharing, not even replacing all tornadoes with the f35, rather opting to bet on FCAS and further EF purchases.
That’s 2/3 of the biggest markets in Europe not being interested, the fleets of the UK, France and Germany (especially with the planned increase of the Luftwaffe) are just so much larger than other European nations and the F35 only managed to enter one of those fleets in significant numbers.
Buy some Lockheed Martin stocks before winter comes
6 comments
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STUTTGART, Germany — The past four years have proved fruitful for Lockheed Martin in Europe, as six nations have hitched their wagons to the American company’s fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet.
Despite calls from French leaders for its neighbors to “buy European,” the F-35 has consistently beat out homegrown candidates in the most recent fighter jet competitions, including the Dassault Rafale, Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen, and the Eurofighter Typhoon developed by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
This wave of success comes down to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s high rate of interoperability with allies and partners, particularly in NATO, along with its guaranteed upgrade road map, analysts told Defense News. But more than anything, they noted, the jet arrived in Europe with pristine timing, as multiple nations were itching to refresh their fleets by the end of the decade.
Belgium in 2018 became the first Foreign Military Sales customer of the F-35 from Europe, committing to buying 34 F-35A aircraft. Two years later, Poland followed, and now plans to procure 32 F-35As.
In 2021, Switzerland and Finland each picked the platform to replace their respective F-18 Hornets, with the former committing to 36 aircraft and the latter to 64. Most recently, Germany is set to procure 35 F-35A aircraft to replace its nuclear weapons-carrying P-200 Tornado jets, and the Czech Republic has pledged to buy 24 F-35As as it retires its Gripens.
Formal procurement processes for Switzerland, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic have not yet begun, a Lockheed Martin official said in an email to Defense News. Eventually, the company expects more than 550 F-35s will be stationed in Europe by 2030, to include U.S. Air Force squadrons based at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England.
Other European program participants include Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.
**Contracts and pushback**
Part of the F-35′s success in Europe comes down to great timing, as many European air forces prepare to recapitalize their fourth-generation fleets, said Douglas Barrie, a senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“Partly by design and partly by good fortune, the F-35 turned up at the right time,” he told Defense News.
[deleted]
You’ve not copied all of the article OP.
F-35 is the only 5. generation fighter in the market.
There are a lot of 4. generation fighters, they’d be good for a war in the 1990s, but they are not up to the task with current anti aircraft systems.
I wouldn’t say swept Europe at all, I understand that given all the countries that are part of the program and other buyers in Europe can give the impression of a sweeping, France is not even a topic and Germany basically gave the program a middle finger, only ordering the bare minimum of units needed to participate in nuclear sharing, not even replacing all tornadoes with the f35, rather opting to bet on FCAS and further EF purchases.
That’s 2/3 of the biggest markets in Europe not being interested, the fleets of the UK, France and Germany (especially with the planned increase of the Luftwaffe) are just so much larger than other European nations and the F35 only managed to enter one of those fleets in significant numbers.
Buy some Lockheed Martin stocks before winter comes