On a Friday in Fort Worth, Germany accepted its first F-35A stealth fighter — a moment that carries the weight of decades of deferred reckoning. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Europe has been forced to confront the gap between the peace it assumed and the security it actually requires. Germany's 35-aircraft order, and the new NATO commitment to five percent of GDP in defense spending by 2035, mark a continent in the process of remembering that security is not a given, but a sustained act of collective will.
Germany Takes Delivery of First F-35 Fighter Jet Amid NATO Military Buildup
War & Conflict