[War & Business] Europe’s Rearmament and the F-35

On March 23, an F-35 fighter jet took off for training at Emmen Air Base in Switzerland. Emmen, Switzerland = Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] In early December last year, two months before the start of the Ukraine war, the Finnish government announced an order for 64 American F-35 fighter jets. From that point on, news began pouring in that Finland's declaration to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was imminent.

Before and after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the purchase of F-35 fighter jets in Europe was interpreted as a declaration of rearmament and a willingness to fight alongside the Atlantic alliance led by the United States, namely NATO. Although the Finnish government officially denied the possibility of NATO membership until the Ukraine crisis, it is assessed that preparatory work for joining had already been underway since then.

The F-35 adoption craze is intensifying not only in Finland but across European countries. Europe also has fighter jets such as the Eurofighter and France's Rafale, which possess combat capabilities comparable to the F-35, but the popularity of the F-35 is increasing further. In March, the German government announced it would purchase 35 F-35s despite strong opposition from France. Germany had started developing the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) with France, Spain, and others since 2018, but argued that it could not rely on aging aircraft for defense until the expected development completion in 2035, thus deciding to introduce the F-35.

In July last year, even Switzerland, a small neutral country, attracted international attention by announcing the adoption of the F-35 after a national referendum. At that time, Swiss left-wing parties criticized the expensive price, saying, "The people do not want an aerial Ferrari that can cross the entire Swiss territory in one minute," but the F-35 adoption was approved by a majority vote.

This popularity of the F-35 is interpreted as a reflection of Europe's situation, which largely depends on the United States' security and economic capabilities. Since the United States leads NATO, if European countries arm themselves with American weapons, it will be easier to conduct unified operations or provide support through weapon lending in emergencies. Therefore, the preference for American weapons in major armaments is expected to deepen further.

On the other hand, there is also an analysis that this is a desperate measure to buy time for rearming Europe's conventional forces, which had been virtually neglected after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s by spending only about 1% of GDP on defense. As pointed out, NATO member countries in Europe, excluding the United States and Turkey, have fewer than 1,000 tanks, making the expansion of forces to directly confront Russia a top priority on the ground.

In Asia as well, demand for American weapons is expanding. Not only major allies such as South Korea and Japan but also Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, which previously preferred Russian and Chinese weapons, are persistently requesting the introduction of the F-35 from the U.S. government. The global defense industry as a whole has thus begun to revolve again around the United States due to the security instability triggered by Russia and China.