Europe fears its US military gear could be useless

The Trump administration's move to restrict Ukraine's access to key technology for its F-16 fighter jets in recent weeks has had a chilling effect on Europe's confidence in its most important supplier of weapons. The problem is there is almost nothing the Europeans can do about it, ‘Euractiv” writes.

Decades ago, when many Europeans started buying high-end defence gear from America, few worried about over-reliance on the mighty supplier. To the contrary: Having an ally in America, which in recent years has set up factories on European soil to sell and maintain fighter jets, was seen as a guarantee of security.

No more. European leaders have been rattled for the weeks by the realisation that they can no longer count on the US to come to their rescue in the case of an attack by Russia or another foe. Now, they are realising they might not even have access to the American arms they have been buying for decades.

Put simply, if the US can simply withhold a software or other crucial information necessary to operate the systems, the Europeans would be severely constrained in their ability to react to threats. Yet after decades of 'buying American', Europe has few options other than to hope for the best.

The fact that Trump restored most of the support for Ukraine in recent days after Zelenskyy softened his tone and signed a framework mineral deal did little to assuage European concerns. Indeed, the transactional nature of the arrangement only increased worries that Europe is at Trump's mercy.

Europeans still heavily rely on US-made equipment for their defence.

“The aircraft is by far the best on the market, both in terms of performance and value for money,” said Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken, highlighting the F-35's unique speed, stealth and radar capabilities.

European options do not match the US-made aircraft in terms of capability even though the French Rafale and the Swedish Saab-made Gripen are largely made in Europe and cheaper in the long run.

“There will be no European alternative available for the F-35 in the decades to come," said Francken.

Until there is an alternative to US-made aircraft, Europeans will continue buying American.

In Europe, 13 countries operate or have bought F-35s while nine operate or have ordered an earlier version of the aircraft, the F-16, dozens of which have been donated to Ukraine, according to Flight Global.

Between 2020 and 2024, the US supplied 64% of all arms bought by NATO's European members, a “substantial” increase on the previous five years, the SIPRI think tank said. Much further down the list are France and South Korea, with 6.5% each, Germany (4.7%) and Israel (3.9%).

Even though the Swiss and the Belgians have denied the existence of a reported remote technical kill-switch that could disable US-made fighter jets, the US government still has the right to ground its home-made equipment.

As Euractiv has previously reported, and as seen in Ukraine, the White House can still ground aircraft and other equipment, or deny the sale of maintenance and spare parts, on grounds of national security.

Washington's policy could impact ongoing EU-level talks on spending more money on defence and whether to spend it on US-made equipment.