![]() ![]() fighters, Japan recently teamed up with the United Kingdom to co-develop a new jet that will be built in both countries. The country now plans to buy 147 off-the-shelf F-35s. But realizing it had wasted money to essentially reinvent the F-16, Japan built fewer than 100 F-2s. In the 1990s, Japan spent billions of dollars developing the Mitsubishi F-2 and was met with the predictable teeth gnashing in Washington about technology transfer leading to the United States surrendering its lead in combat aircraft and defense exports. Japan is a good example of what happened to national fighter programs-and where they might be headed. ![]() As new competitors enter the market, the F-35 will not be enough to carry U.S. But the F-35 is a product of the post-Cold War era, when nations were content to buy off-the-shelf products. With more than 20 export customers so far from Norway to South Korea, the F-35, like its predecessor, has been a great success. The F-35 cemented Washington’s export dominance in the global fighter-jet market. types, according to AeroDynamic Advisory data.Īs a follow-on, the United States created the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which entered service in 2015. Between 19, Western manufacturers built 1,667 fighter aircraft 727 of these were F-16s, and 597 were other U.S. Lockheed Martin’s F-16 dominated the market, offering tremendous value for money with no upfront development costs. The United States, meanwhile, did a great job selling off-the-shelf jets. Economies liberalized, trade barriers came down, and industrial policy fell out of fashion. As post-Cold War defense budgets shrank, so did the fighter market. There were many reasons for the collapse of these national programs. A few of these homegrown jets were built-in relatively small numbers-but most simply vanished during the 1990s. ![]() In the 1980s, South Africa, Taiwan, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Romania, Israel, Japan, and India, among other countries, had national fighter jet schemes. There was a time when almost every major (and minor) power wanted to build its own combat jet. Countries aren’t going to rely on U.S.-produced fighter jets forever, and if Washington doesn’t adapt by prioritizing the sale of the systems and technologies that power other countries’ jets, the United States will fall behind in the global defense market. But the unintended consequence of Washington’s policies will be a diminished presence on the export fighter market.īy the late 2030s, the global fighter market-and defense market in general-will be much more fragmented, and less U.S.-dominated, than today. The United States has started to prioritize the development of more capable and specialized jets, rather than export-oriented, jack-of-all-trades jets, so that its military can be better equipped for the rise of superpowers such as China. Lesser powers have tried to develop national jets in the past, but now, more are succeeding-just as Washington is moving away from combat aircraft exports. conglomerate General Electric will manufacture jet engines with an Indian state-owned company for New Delhi’s national fighter jet program.Īlthough jet engines may seem insignificant compared with, say, high-profile sales of fighter jets or tanks, the announcement points to an important global trend: National combat aircraft are making a comeback. President Joe Biden hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, the pair released a joint statement hailing, among other partnerships, a “trailblazing initiative” whereby U.S. It’s rare that jet engines play a significant role in meetings between heads of state. ![]()
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