[mytailorisrich]

It means the US are powerful and very good at flexing their geopolitical muscles.

It also shows, if needed be at this point, that the war in Ukraine has been the jackpot for US interests at the expense of Europe.

Now obviously, the F-35 is not going to be bad in global competition terms because few, if any, countries have the US' capabilities and tech, but that does not invalidate any of the criticisms against it.

[blagie]

Educated opinion: Everything I've seen around the F35 seems to indicate it overshot expectations and is a very good plane.

Uneducated opinion: Personally, I think it's also overused to a silly extent, but that's a question that it's good enough for many roles over more specialized planes. It's slower and more expensive than a 1954 f104, and I think cheap drone versions of many airplanes would be good enough for many missions, at a tiny fraction of the cost.

[ethanbond]

So you agree it’s a great aircraft for the current threat environment, but also still make sure to slide in some veiled references to corruption just because?

[mytailorisrich]

Can we not start misrepresenting comments and snipping low quality responses? This is tiring...

[ethanbond]

Okay then, please expound on how much of the demand is driven by the US “flexing its geopolitical muscle,” and how much is because it’s actually a desirable aircraft?

Do you have any evidence of the former thesis?

[ryao]

You are replying to someone else, but it occurs to me that countries that feel threatened would be inclined to buy US equipment even if it is not the best as a way to try to encourage the US to deploy troops in their countries as a deterrent toward foreign aggression. They could easily say "hey, we have the same equipment, so your guys will be at home working with our guys if things go south".

[mytailorisrich]

Why does the Japanese Air Force is pretty much 100% US aircrafts (with some local ones) while the Indian Air Force is, AFAIK, 0% US aircrafts.

Those things are not governed by the "free market".

"Desirable aircraft" is a subjective term. They bought it so it was 'desirable' by the metrics and considerations at play which go way beyond tech specs and cost.

[blagie]

I will ignore the potentially false statements and restrictions on arm sales, and answer the high-level question:

Force design is a question of what the force will be used for. A military for a counterinsurgency in Iraq, will look very different from one for a peer-level conflict between superpowers. A military designed for force projection will look very different than one used for domestic defence. Etc.

There is a fairly standard way of doing the analysis for what makes sense for a given country's specific defence needs and wants:

* Most of India's defence needs center around Pakistan, as well as skirmishes of various sorts. I can think of few things an F35 can do which India needs done which can't be accomplished by a much cheaper plane.

* Japan's primary goal issue is China's growing military base. I can think of few uses Japan would have for a much cheaper plane.

India's answer to all-out war with China are nukes. Aside from that, it has no chance for military parity in the next half-century or so.

[ethanbond]

According to Wikipedia there are at least 7 types of American aircraft in the Indian Air Force and at least one British aircraft in the Japanese fleet, so I’m not sure what answer you’re angling for with “why does…?”

Agreed, all products, especially industrial and military products, are purchased based on their complete offering. The US is able to make very strong complete offers for a variety of reasons (e.g. the supply chain for replacement parts). I don’t think it’s fair to ascribe this to “flexing geopolitical muscle,” which IMO reads like “the US is strong-arming its customers into inferior products.”

[mytailorisrich]

Again, please do not misrepresent others' comments and try not to nitpick. I tried to engage but you do not reply on the substance or in a substantial way.

[hylaride]

The US restricts who can have the F-35, among other weaponry. They cancelled Turkey's F-35 purchase after they bought the Russian S-400 air defence system and they refuse to allow a lot technology transfers for it, depending on the country.