REARMAMENT: Germany decides to buy F-35, in major reversal of announced plans.

Previously, “Berlin had not only taken a strong political stance against F-35 and sacked the former head of the Luftwaffe for publicly supporting its acquisition, but had also previously refused to engage with practical discussions of any kind around the operational delivery of the DCA [dual capable aircraft] mission,” he said. “This is a clear sign that all that has now changed.”

The news was cause for celebration for Lockheed Martin, as the F-35 has now won every fighter contest it had entered, with Germany previously standing alone as the sole holdout.

Russia’s failure to gain air superiority over Ukraine (!) proves my long-held assumption that stealth is the price of admission to the modern battlespace — and it’s finally a price even Germany’s parsimonious Ministry of Defense is willing to pay.