Elon Musk, founding father of SpaceX and Tesla and co-head of the newly shaped Division of Authorities Effectivity advising President-elect Donald Trump, has as soon as once more criticized the F-35 stealth fighter, stating that its design flaws make it basically unsafe for pilots.
In a publish on his social media platform, X, Musk wrote: “The F-35 design was damaged on the necessities stage, as a result of it was required to be too many issues to too many individuals. This made it an costly & advanced jack of all trades, grasp of none. Success was by no means within the set of potential outcomes. And manned fighter jets are out of date within the age of drones anyway. Will simply get pilots killed.”
This critique follows Musk’s earlier statements questioning the relevance of manned fighter plane in fashionable warfare.
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On Sunday, he reposted a video of synchronized drone swarms flying in elaborate formations, including, “In the meantime, some idiots are nonetheless constructing manned fighter jets just like the F-35.” Musk’s blunt remarks underscore his perception that drone know-how is the way forward for air fight, making conventional manned fighters just like the F-35 out of date.
The F-35 design was damaged on the necessities stage, as a result of it was required to be too many issues to too many individuals.
This made it an costly & advanced jack of all trades, grasp of none. Success was by no means within the set of potential outcomes.
And manned fighter jets are… https://t.co/t6EYLWNegI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2024
Musk has repeatedly emphasised that unmanned drones, with superior autonomous capabilities, signify the way forward for navy aviation. In 2020, he argued that the period of manned fighter jets was ending, suggesting that the F-35 wanted competitors from an unmanned aerial automobile able to difficult its effectiveness.
Musk’s criticism comes as the talk about the way forward for air fight intensifies. The F-35, a fifth-generation multirole fighter developed by Lockheed Martin, has confronted challenges, together with improvement delays, price overruns, and questions concerning its fight efficiency. Regardless of this, it stays a key part of the U.S. and allied air forces, together with these of the UK and Japan.
Musk’s advocacy for drone-based warfare aligns with a broader pattern in protection that sees unmanned methods as essential to future operations. Drones, which may undertake high-risk missions with out endangering pilots, are more and more seen as a strategy to improve operational effectiveness whereas minimizing human danger. Musk’s imaginative and prescient of a drone fighter aircraft, remotely managed by a human and enhanced by autonomy, suggests a shift in how air dominance might be achieved sooner or later.
Regardless of these criticisms, the F-35 program stays the spine of many allied air forces. It performs an important function in offering a typical platform for allied operations, and its superior capabilities, together with stealth, sensors, and flexibility, are well known.
