US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would be giving the F-35, the world’s most sophisticated fighter jet, to India.
The big announcement came after a meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Modi’s recent visit to the US. While there was jubilation over the deal, the re-surfacing of Elon Musk’s earlier comments has been making headlines, highlighting his earlier criticisms of the fighter jet.
In a November 24, 2024, tweet, Musk referred to a video of an array of tiny drones and wrote, “Meanwhile, some are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.” He went on to describe what he perceives as the F-35’s weakness, stating that its design was defective from the start because it was intended to be used for so many different things. This, he went on, resulted in an expensive and complex airplane that is not superior to any specific mission.
Elon Musk argued that manned fighter planes are becoming obsolete in the age of drones, with the argument that employing human pilots unnecessarily brings unnecessary risk. “Crewed fighter aircraft are an inefficient way of extending missile range or dropping bombs,” he stated, suggesting that reusable drones could be used to do so without the limitations that come with a human pilot.
He further mentioned that conventional fighter jets would easily be rendered useless in combat with foes who possess state-of-the-art surface-to-air missiles or drones, as is the current dynamic in the Russia-Ukraine war. Musk humorously continued that fighter jets do come in handy, particularly in social situations for Air Force crew members, but the use of drones is increasingly being seen.
Musk’s outspoken resistance to the F-35 program culminated in a curt declaration: “Some US weapons systems are good, but too expensive, but please, for the sake of all that is holy, let us put an end to the worst military value for money in history that is the F-35 program!”
Despite its advanced stealth and intelligence collection features, the F-35 has been the target of ongoing criticism for its high operating costs and persistent technical problems, particularly with its software.
