The European Union is in a rearmament race.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing distance between the EU and US have forced the bloc's 27 Member States to strengthen their strategic autonomy.
However, Europe is not yet in a position to defend itself and is still heavily dependent on American equipment. Between 2020 and 2024, the US accounted for 53% of European defence imports. Almost the entire continent has American equipment.
Europe does, however, have a strong aerospace defence industry. The French Rafale, the Swedish Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon aircrafts are produced by a consortium comprising the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.
But the American F-35 from Lockheed-Martin is cementing itself as a staple in European military force. Italy has ordered 90 of aircraft model, Germany 35, Belgium 34 and Poland 32.
All in all, Europe will be able to rely on 200 additional American aircraft in the years to come. However, this comes at the risk of maintaining strategic dependency on the US.
"There is a form of dependence because this is a very sophisticated aircraft that requires a lot of maintenance. This means that parts have to be replaced regularly. The supply chain that produces these parts is managed by Lockheed Martin in the United States," explains Christophe Wasinski, professor at the Centre for Research and Studies in International Politics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
"The replacement of older fighter-bombers has been the subject of considerable debate, particularly in Belgium and then in other European countries. In any case, the United States has pushed very hard for the F-35 to be purchased by many of its allies," adds the professor.
The advantages of the F-35
American aircraft have a number of advantages. The United States forms the backbone of NATO, and using American equipment ensures greater interoperability with European armies. There is also a political dimension. Buying aircraft from the other side of the Atlantic shows European commitment to Washington.
What's more, American technology has a technological advantage over European aircraft.
"Despite everything, the Americans have mastered technologies, particularly in terms of stealth, that the Europeans have not yet mastered," points out Alain De Neve, research fellow at the Institut Royal Supérieur de Défense.
"The question is obviously whether stealth is absolutely essential for modern combat operations, or whether we can do without it and rely on aircraft that are capable of a high level of stealth", he asks.
"That said, we (Europeans) may also have combat capabilities that are less costly and more expendable".
Questions are also being raised about Washington's ability to ground its aircraft through special software. However, using this "kill switch" tool could deal a blow to American reliability and to the lucrative exports of its military industry.
The European gamble on rearmament
To enable the European Union to strengthen its strategic and military autonomy, the European Commission presented its ReArm Europe plan at the beginning of March. Over the next few years, the project should mobilise almost 800 billion euros to fund a rearmament push.
But Christophe Wasinski is not convinced.
"I don't think that simply injecting billions or tens or hundreds of billions of euros will produce a common security and defence policy," stresses the ULB professor.
"I think it has to start with political discussions on what we want to do with the armed forces and also what we want to do with what already exists, because there are already capabilities in European arsenals."
