this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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With F-35's costs, is it really the best equipment? I suspect the real reason is that replacing it is a gigantic undertaking that might be far more expensive short-term.
The components dependency part in fighter jets, though, is something they really should be able to solve. Those are very complex systems, but designed with integration and customization in mind. That's one of the reasons they are so expensive. Slowly replacing everything in them with components from more reliable producers is normal for militaries. Well, for militaries with actual RnD and production, of course Uzbekistan or Colombia can't do that, but Netherlands can.
Name another stealth jet that you can buy right now in significant numbers.
Do Netherlands need a stealth jet at all? Perhaps a fleet of cheap drones is better.
I mean, in some "global power projection" context like USA or thinking of readiness for total war like Israel, those jets are not optional.
But the threat model of Netherlands is which? Considering it doesn't even have mandatory military training.
The question was about the best equipment, and in it's class F-35 is (so far) the best, considering the price. I'm sure everyone and their grandma would want 100M worth of cheap anti-drone tech too but a contract's a contract, and they get cool planes out of it. Planes that will get a shitload of upgrades in the near future, wingman uavs for example.
It's not just about defending the Netherlands but all of NATO, which involves deploying Dutch planes to eastern Europe, close to Russian AA systems for example.
It was Dutch F-35s that shot down the Russian drones over Poland. It could've just as well been a Russian fighter jet they scrambled to intercept.
Yeah, they do need a stealth jet. Stealth is what lets you fire your missiles before the enemy even knows you're there.
The dirt cheap drones, those of them that diverted by error or malfunction from their intended targets, that is, inside margin of error.
Using F-35s to shoot down that in an actual war with waves of those drones seems inefficient. Paying more than the attack costs. Raising a jet costs fuel and maintenance. It's purely a very expensive peacetime solution near a conflict. Those drones should have been intercepted by ground AD batteries. Which in case of being a war participant and not a neighbor you will need.
As a strategic weapon yes.
OK, as part of common European defense yes, it's just that it's still not unified enough it seems. Perhaps a common European military with mandatory training and reserve enlistment for citizens, standardized equipment and procedures (OK, that already exists), united command and proscription and budget, would be better. Because when it's decided by separate governments, you end up with F-35s shooting down random drones being used as a proof that the system works.
That would mean, of course, turning the EU into a confederation from a union.
Firstly, it's not just about the price of the drones being shot down - it's also about the price of whatever they were going to hit if you didn't stop them.
And secondly, that's entirely beside the point anyway. The Dutch need stealth fighters just as much as anyone else would.