A disconcerting statement by the JEMAD on the possible purchase of the F-35 by Spain

The issue of Spain's possible purchase of the F-35 fighter jet is already beginning to take on a truly surreal tone.

The French naval model that Spain could imitate and that would mean forgetting about the F-35B
The alternatives to the F-35A for a second fighter aircraft for the Spanish Air Force

This Wednesday, Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón, Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD), attended a breakfast briefing organized by the New Economy Forum. The full video can be seen here. At 1:00:42 of the video, the presenter read two questions posed by a member of the French Embassy in Madrid: "Can Spain and its armed forces stop purchasing the F-35? Are there alternative plans?"

The response by the JEMAD was as follows: "There are alternatives to the F-35. Let's see, not just to the aircraft itself. Obviously, we don't have an alternative to a fifth-generation aircraft, with truly advanced stealth technology. That's the reality. In effect, we will have to survive with the fourth generation that we have and wait for the arrival of the FCAS one day. The thing is, of course, we have to wait many years for the FCAS, but he doesn't want us to be left without aviation, but rather that we don't have, let's say, the stealth technology that today, in fact, is proving enormously useful in some of the conflicts we are seeing." The JEMAD added: "There are longer-term alternatives."

The statements of the JEMAD can be heard in this video, I have inserted it so that it starts playing at the indicated point (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

When the JEMAD speaks of "fourth generation" he is referring to the fighters that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, such as the F/A-18 Hotnet, the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 Fighting Falcon or the F-14 Tomcat. Spain operates two fighters of that generation: the EF-18 (Air Force) and the Harrier II (Navy). Both are reaching the end of their operational lives. Generally, the Eurofighter is classified in the 4.5 generation, halfway between the fourth and fifth (the latter made up of stealth fighters such as the F-35).

I have to confess that I find these statements disconcerting, especially coming from an Admiral General, that is, a high-ranking Navy official. Indeed, there are alternatives to the F-35, but none that can take off from the Spanish aircraft carrier "Juan Carlos I," which lacks catapults and arresting cables. Today, as I have been insisting for years, the only STOVL on the market is the F-35B, as the Harrier II is no longer manufactured.

This Tuesday, I pointed out here the situation that the Spanish Navy faces without the F-35B: a decade without carrier-based fighters, and that's at least, taking into account that the Spanish Harrier IIs are scheduled to be retired around 2030 and that the naval FCAS would not arrive, at the earliest, until 2040, assuming that this program does not end up derailing, a possibility that cannot be ruled out, given the situation (you can learn more about this situation at the complete article by Roberto Escámez published yesterday by DefensaySeguridad.es). Obviously, keeping the Harrier II in service until 2040 would entail a high risk of accident, due to the fatigue of the aircraft's materials once its useful life is over.

On the other hand, it is true that the Spanish Air Force has other alternatives to the F-35. Last year I pointed out here eight possible fighters that Spain could buy in order not to depend exclusively on a single weapons system, the Eurofighter, with the risks that this entails (for example, having to immobilize the entire fleet in the event of a breakdown related to the manufacture of the aircraft, as has already happened with some aircraft models). But as the JEMAD points out, none of these alternatives would be a stealth fighter. The closest thing we could have is the South Korean KAI KF-21 Boramae, which despite its appearance (very similar to an F-35 but with two engines), is not a stealth aircraft.

The lack of a stealth fighter until at least 2040 means that for 15 years Spain would clearly lag behind other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Belgium, which have decided to purchase the F-35 fighter jet and in some cases already have it operational. Perhaps we don't realize it here, but a 15-year gap in defense in the current scenario is absurd, and it gives a clear advantage to our main strategic threats. In addition to Russia, let us remember that Morocco and Algeria already have plans to acquire stealth fighters (the F-35 and the Su-57, respectively).

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Main photo: U.S. Navy. An F-35A from the U.S. Air Force's 388th Fighter Wing on June 10, 2019, at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, alongside several Spanish Eurofighters, as part of the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) offered at the Spanish base.