World News

217 readers

558 users here now

Please help and contribute as we vote on rules:
https://quokk.au/post/21590

Other Great Communities:

Rules

Be excellent to each other

founded 8 months ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Grainne

[email protected]

135

Portugal Drops Plans for F-35 Citing U.S. Political Uncertainty (theaviationist.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Trump’s controversial remarks about NATO, questioning member contributions and even suggesting the U.S. might not uphold its defense commitments, as well as the decision to halt the deliveries of weapons as well as the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine following the meeting with Zelensky at the White House, have raised alarms across Europe.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (3 children)

It's fine, I'm sure he'll be selling them to Russia before too long.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I doubt Russia would want to buy warplanes with a US kill switch.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Once this kill switch stuff keeps popping up:

https://theaviationist.com/2025/03/10/f-35-kill-switch-myth/

TL;DR: There is no kill switch per se (as in flip it and brick the thing), but a huge dependency on logistics, services and systems that operators outside the US have no influence over. That in turn will cause the plane - while still flyable - to be grounded over time as it cannot be maintained, rearmed and operated effectively anymore.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

At the end the effects are the same of a kill switch