Don't fool yourself into thinking US allies are unilaterally wanting the F35. There's heavy lobbying and strategic pressure underneath.
If on only one example, in the recent Belgian Tender (which led to adoption of the F35) appeared a wholly new operational requirement for the Air Force to do stealth-requiring missions, such as SEAD (suppression of enemy air defense) [1]. Up to then, the Belgian Air force was not trained nor expected to do such aggressive undertakings. It seems this requirement came from NATO.
PS : Apologies for my source being in french, there might be some english versions of the story somewhere. The guy reporting the story is Stavros Kelepouris.
If on only one example, in the recent Belgian Tender (which led to adoption of the F35) appeared a wholly new operational requirement for the Air Force to do stealth-requiring missions, such as SEAD (suppression of enemy air defense) [1]. Up to then, the Belgian Air force was not trained nor expected to do such aggressive undertakings. It seems this requirement came from NATO.
[1] https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeron...
PS : Apologies for my source being in french, there might be some english versions of the story somewhere. The guy reporting the story is Stavros Kelepouris.