There are concerns in Europe, notably Germany, that US-made systems, such as the F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation multirole stealth warplane, might be subject to a “kill switch”—an electronic backdoor by which the United States could remotely disable the aircraft if its erstwhile NATO allies were to use them in ways that displeased Washington.

While there is little evidence to suggest that a literal kill switch exists for the F-35s sold to American allies, the Americans can still do much to weaken—or shut down—another country’s F-35 program in other ways.

This is all coming to light due to the recent fundamental shifts in US foreign policy toward Europe, especially vis-à-vis Greenland and the Ukraine War. Euronews reported recently that German officials have publicly raised the alarm about a rumored control of a “kill switch” on F-35 jets sold to Europe.

This is probably nonsense. Instead, the real kill switch is in the absolute dependence on US defense firms for software, maintenance, and data links for the effective operation of these fifth-generation warplanes. 

Those data links are especially important for the useful operation of the F-35, which has often been described as little more than a flying computer chip. Indeed, one individual I spoke with who is a trained F-35 pilot explained to me that without effective data linkage, the F-35 loses much of its advantages.  

In the case of Europe’s F-35s, these systems are the apotheosis of the interoperability among European militaries and the United States that the original founders of NATO envisioned. 

Specifically, Link-16 and GPS access are key for the proper functioning of Europe’s F-35s, as they connect these birds to the larger, interoperable NATO defense networks and allow for precision guidance and strike during combat. 

And don’t forget the importance of the key software, logistics support, and even the overall supply chain for maintaining Europe’s fleet of F-35s. It all runs from and through the United States. So long as relations are good between the various European members of NATO, this is not a problem. 

But let’s just look at the recent (and ongoing) contretemps between Washington and Copenhagen over the fate of Greenland. 

According to The Aviationist, a popular online industry publication, systems like ALIS and ODIN, which are part of the overarching logistical, maintenance, and........

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