‘We must avoid American weapons if at all possible’

• The top of Denmark’s protection committee says shopping for American weapons is now a “safety danger.”

• Rasmus Jarlov fears the US might use weapons just like the F-35 as leverage in opposition to international locations like his.

• Jarlov mentioned he regrets deciding on the fighter amid US tensions with Denmark over Greenland.

The chairman of Denmark’s parliamentary protection committee mentioned he regrets selecting the F-35 for his nation, citing fears that the US might threaten to stop assist for the fighter.

“As one of many decision-makers behind Denmark’s buy of F-35s, I remorse it,” Rasmus Jarlov, a member of parliament for the center-right Conservative Individuals’s Social gathering, wrote on social media on Wednesday.

Jarlov was addressing rumors that the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II might have a “kill-switch” that permits Washington to remotely disable F-35s bought by US allies.

The Pentagon mentioned on Tuesday that the stealth fighter doesn’t have such a characteristic.

However the Danish MP is not satisfied. “We clearly can not take your phrase for it,” Jarlov wrote in his submit.

He added that the US might scupper Copenhagen’s use of the F-35 simply by stopping the provision of spare components — an identical dilemma that Ukraine faced when Washington quickly paused navy support.

“I can simply think about a scenario the place the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and can threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia assault us once we refuse,” wrote Jarlov, who can also be his occasion’s spokesperson for his stance on Greenland’s affairs.

Jarlov additional accused the US of wanting “to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa.”

“Due to this fact, shopping for American weapons is a safety danger that we can not run. We’ll make monumental investments in air protection, fighter jets, artillery, and different weapons within the coming years, and we should keep away from American weapons if in any respect doable,” he mentioned.

“I encourage our associates and allies to do the identical,” Jarlov added.

Denmark introduced in 2016 that it was spending about $3 billion on 27 F-35s to interchange its growing older fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons. Jarlov was serving as Denmark’s protection committee chairman on the time.

Copenhagen has obtained 17 of its orders up to now.

His feedback come as President Donald Trump has mentioned that he needs to buy or annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark that is wealthy in minerals and might present the US with a strategic location close to the Arctic.

Leaders in each Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly resisted Trump’s statements, saying their governments had little interest in the territory coming underneath US administration or rule.

“There is no such thing as a menace from China in opposition to Greenland and China has no presence in Greenland,” Jarlov wrote on Sunday. “The one menace in opposition to Greenland is the USA.”

In the meantime, Second Woman Usha Vance, White Home nationwide safety advisor Mike Waltz, and the Secretary of Vitality Chris Wright are anticipated to go to Greenland on Thursday.

Denmark is not the one nation reconsidering its protection reliance on US exports. Leaders in Portugal and Canada have additionally mentioned they’re reviewing their willingness to purchase the F-35 amid the geopolitical tensions between the US and its allies.

Canada’s protection minister, Invoice Blair, mentioned his nation could also be seeking alternatives to the F-35 over issues of hostility from Washington, which launched steep tariffs against Canadian and Mexican goods earlier this month.

In the meantime, Portugal’s outgoing protection minister, Nuno Melo, instructed native media that his nation “cannot ignore the geopolitical environment in our selections” on probably shopping for the F-35.

At the least 19 governments, together with the UK, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Australia, and Israel, have agreed to buy the F-35.

The F-35 is among the most superior fighter jets on the planet, and whereas it has a number of opponents, its stealth options have been dominant out there. Different planes thought-about adjoining or comparable in functionality are China’s Chengdu J-20 and the French Dassault Rafale, which a British assume tank mentioned has not too long ago surged in recognition as US ties with its allies fray.

South Korea can also be growing the KF-21 Boramae, however its stealth techniques are anticipated to be much less superior than the F-35’s.

Lockheed Martin, the State Division, the Pentagon, and Jarlov didn’t reply to requests for remark despatched outdoors common enterprise hours by Enterprise Insider.

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