Reply #201: The moment you sell the F'35 to Japan or Australia you will have delivered the tech to China.

[Democracyinkind]

And again. I doubt any European nation will buy F'35.
I believe they never will be produced in such numbers as to make them reasonable machines of war.
I think the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, Norway, Denmark have pretty much opted out of the F'35 future.
Of course, thinks can change... And sure.,. Gripen and Rafale suck ass when compared to what we developed but if you look at their production cost and unit cost/performance they actually don't look that bad.

The reason I am so sure of this is that European Defense Industries have taken the american example and started to give out bribes big time. Ever since Europe plays this way to, the major incentive to buy american junk of war is slowly thinking, especially in the high tech sector.

And I really don't believe we need them.
There was an interesting piece of info i saw lately on how with the current distribution of oil whether China nor the USA could wage a significant air campaign comparable to a longer conflict such as WW2 or Vietnam. But that's a whole other point. Chances are WW2 was the biggest thing ever to happen. Let's see.