F-35 Fallacy: Jets Alone Will Not Save Us

NATO Allies have bet the future of European skies on the world’s most sophisticated combat aircraft. NATO Allies are buying the world's most advanced fighter but many are neglecting vital investments in hard security, ground crews, and support systems that will keep it flying.By 2028, European flight lines will host upwards of 700 F-35 Lightning jets. On paper, this inventory represents an insurmountable technological edge: a sensor-fused, fifth-generation fleet that outmatches any potential adversary in radar-cross-section, situational awareness, and electronic attack.Yet this procurement spree masks a dangerous complacency. The Alliance has poured vast capital into acquiring fifth-generation airframes while systematically underinvesting in the unglamorous terrestrial infrastructure that keeps them flying: base hardening, counter-drone defenses, resilient networks, and ground crews. An F-35 sitting on an unhardened runway without fuel, parts, or secure command links is not a deterrent, it is an expensive target.The cockpit may deliver tactical lethality, but operational endurance is generated entirely on the tarmac. If conflict erupts with Russia, the fight for European airspace w...