US to withhold F-35 fighter software codes

[Modern Elmo]

I think you are missing the point Walter, by 9000 miles or so.

No, Walter is on point. A majpr reasons why the Bush Jr. admin. did not want to "sell" F-22's to Australia or Japan is that Israel also wanted or wants F-22's. ( The Israelis never actually pay for their aircraft. Calling the freebies "sales" is P.R. )

The problem is Israeli reverse engineering and subsequent sales to China. Japanese reverse engineering is also a potential problem.

And why should the USA entrust all to the EU provinces formerly known as UK?

[COLOR="Navy"]MiG-15 Design & Development:

In the immediate wake of World War II, the Soviet Union captured a wealth of German jet engine and aeronautical research. Utilizing this, they produced their first practical jet fighter, the MiG-9, in early 1946. While capable, this aircraft lacked the top speed of the standard American jets of the day, such as the P-80 Shooting Star. Though MiG-9 was operational, Russian designers continued to have issues perfecting the German HeS-011 axial-flow jet engine. As a result, airframe designs produced by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich's design bureau began to outpace the ability to produce engines to power them.

While the Soviets struggled with developing jet engines, the British had created advanced "centrifugal flow" engines. In 1946, Soviet aviation minister Mikhail Khrunichev and aircraft designer Alexander Yakovlev approached Premier Joseph Stalin with the suggestion of buying several British jet engines. Though not believing that the British would part with such advanced technology, Stalin gave them permission to contact London.

Much to their surprise, the new Labour government of Clement Atlee, which was friendlier towards the Soviets, agreed to the sale of several Rolls-Royce Nene engines along with a licensing agreement for overseas production. Bringing the engines to the Soviet Union, engine designer Vladimir Klimov immediately began reverse-engineering the design. The result was the Klimov RD-45. ...

]MiG-15 - Korean War MiG-15 Fighter