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| Invasion Of Ukraine is Said To Prove the F-35 is An Essential Fighter |
Washington - The United States (US) intervened in the issue of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The US effort to help Ukraine was seen when the F-35 stealth fighter roamed the skies of Europe. In an article entitled 'The War in Ukraine Proves the F-35 Is an Essential Fighter Aircraft', explains how the F-35 plays a large role.
Aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin announced on Wednesday that the delivery of the first F-35 Lightning II to Germany will take place in 2026. Additionally, the aircraft company said it expects more orders for its fifth-generation stealth fighter in Europe. Greece and the Czech Republic have each expressed significant interest.
"You'll hear a lot more about that soon," JR McDonald, vice president of F-35 business development at Lockheed Martin, told reporters at a press conference at the ILA Berlin Air Show trade show.
Finland and Switzerland recently concluded a deal to buy the F-35. Swiss industry already plays a role in building the stealth fighter, with six suppliers providing components for the aircraft. In addition, the Finnish Air Force will receive a total of 64 F-35A aircraft, with the first also arriving in 2026.
The deal with Helsinki was actually announced last year before Russia launched its unprovoked and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which has since prompted Finland to seek NATO membership.
Quoted from 19fortyfive.com, the German Luftwaffe's decision to adopt the F-35 is not surprising. After years of neglecting its military, Berlin was also motivated by Russia's hostile actions and announced it would increase defense spending significantly.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 will replace the Luftwaffe's aging fleet of Tornado aircraft. German companies, including engine maker MTU, are now exploring ways they can join the F-35 supply chain or provide maintenance for the stealth aircraft.
Lockheed Martin shareholders may wish to personally thank the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, as the war in Ukraine could be seen as a massive sale for the F-35. Since launching its offensive on February 24, Russia has failed to achieve air superiority at all and is currently, at best, maintaining air parity.
By most accounts, the air war has gone badly for the Kremlin, which has seen two advanced Sukhoi Su-35s (NATO reporting name 'Flanker-E') shot down in the still-contested skies over Ukraine. "The Russian Air Force is still showing no signs of running a campaign to gain air superiority," retired British Air Marshal Edward Stringer told Newsweek in May.
One factor is that the Russians rely mostly on older fourth-generation aircraft, and it's becoming increasingly clear that they don't have the capability to control the skies. Simply put, fourth-generation aircraft, even the so-called Russian “4++ models”, don't seem to cut it anymore. Such a plane might be a more affordable option, but it doesn't matter if it all crashes.
Moreover, Ukraine already has the tools to fight aging aircraft. Earlier this year, Slovakia transferred a number of Russian-made S-300 air defense missile systems to Ukraine, and others may be on the way.
Moscow has long touted the platform's capabilities, and that could explain why the Kremlin is not seeking to control the skies over Ukraine. Russian aviation experts may know that it is a matter of air defense capability outperforming its aging fighter.
"The war in Ukraine proves once and for all that ideas like the non-stealth F-15EX fighter are completely stupid and will only get US pilots killed in a war with Russia or China," said Harry J. Kazianis, President and CEO. The Rogue States Project. "The F-35 is the only fighter jet that is ready and capable of overcoming formidable future air defenses like the S-300, S-400 and S-500 that they have to beat," he explained.
Given the state of the air war in Ukraine, the need for fifth-generation aircraft, particularly the F-35, is likely to become clearer. The F-35 is designed to operate in highly contested airspace, with capabilities that precisely focus on what we've seen in Ukraine today, Billie Flynn, a former Canadian lieutenant colonel and senior F-35 test pilot for Lockheed Martin, told TheAviationist in April.
Flynn added that the F-35 would be the kind of aircraft that could pave the way, and even work alongside other fighters once the airspace was less contested. "If you have the F-35, you don't need the F-16 to do the damage that the F-35 will do," Flynn continued.
“They are a very capable and lethal platform, against SAMs or any kind of ground defense or troop. But once Air Domination is achieved, when you need additional firepower, you use the F-35 to protect the F-16."
Lockheed Martin should put that in its marketing materials. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow's massive air and artillery strikes were aimed at destroying the entire Donbas region. He also urged Ukraine's allies to speed up deliveries of heavy weapons to match Russia on the battlefield.
The fight for the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in Ukraine's Luhansk region "entered a kind of scary climax", said Oleksiy Arestovych, Zelenskiy's adviser. Russia is trying to seize Luhansk and Donetsk, which make up the Donbas region, the country's industrial heartland.
On the diplomatic front, European leaders will on Thursday formally put Ukraine on the long road to EU membership at a summit in Brussels. While largely symbolic, the move would help lift morale after four months of a bloody conflict that has killed thousands, displaced millions and devastated cities.
"We must liberate our lands and achieve victory, but faster, much faster," Zelenskiy said in a video speech released Thursday morning, reiterating Ukraine's demands for bigger and faster weapons. "There was a massive air and artillery attack on the Donbas. The aim of the invaders here has not changed, they want to destroy the whole Donbas step by step," he said.
"This is why we repeatedly emphasize accelerating arms deliveries to Ukraine. What is needed urgently is a balance on the battlefield to stop this rogue fleet and push it beyond Ukraine's borders," he said.