Elon Musk, the man who tweets with the confidence of someone who knows he’ll still make billions even if he starts a Twitter war, has done it again. This time, he set his sights on the F-35 fighter jet, describing its design in just ten words that were as cutting as a SpaceX rocket slicing through the atmosphere.
“Terrible design for modern warfare, easily outmatched by future drones,” Musk declared, leaving no room for subtlety or, apparently, diplomacy. It seems the F-35, touted as the crown jewel of manned military aviation, didn’t make it past Musk’s version of a Shark Tank pitch.
Of course, Musk being Musk, he didn’t stop at just criticism. Like a Silicon Valley prophet, he took the opportunity to preach the gospel of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to Musk, the future isn’t in flashy, overpriced jets piloted by humans. No, it’s in drones—automated, efficient, and probably capable of quoting his tweets back to him mid-mission.
The F-35, developed by Lockheed Martin, has been a lightning rod for controversy for years. Despite costing taxpayers a staggering sum (let’s not even count the zeros), Musk dismissed it as if it were a failed prototype for a Tesla Cybertruck. “A drone would smoke that thing in a fight,” Musk added with the same confidence he uses to claim humanity will live on Mars soon.
While Lockheed Martin has yet to respond, one can only imagine the brainstorming sessions happening right now. “How do we make the F-35 Musk-proof?” might just be the next big question in defense circles.
The internet, of course, wasted no time joining the fray. Memes of drones outfitted with Tesla logos or captioned with “Musk was right” flooded social media. Meanwhile, F-35 defenders pointed out that it’s a highly capable aircraft, just maybe not one that Elon Musk would swipe right on.
As Musk champions the rise of drones, one can’t help but wonder: Will the next generation of aerial warfare include an autopilot system that lets combatants trade Dogecoin mid-battle? With Musk’s vision steering the conversation, anything seems possible—or at least tweetable
