US F-35 stealth fighter has a 'kill switch', but it's controlled by China and not America

If the United States of America goes to a war, the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter will play a pivotal role as it is considered to be the pinnacle of combat aircraft currently in active service worldwide by its makers. The fifth-generation fighter, in service with the defence forces of 10 countries while the same number of countries await their first F-35 jet, was rumoured to have a "kill switch" which was vehemently denied by the US military and the aircraft makers Lockheed Martin.

Now, there is a new revelation which shows that the F-35 fighter has a "kill switch", but it is not in the control of the USA, Instead its arch-rival China is the one which can activate the "kill switch" to render the entire F-35 program ineffective. Not only the F-35, but China can also derail several other US military platforms and programs if its decides to go for the kill and America has absolutely no defence against such a move.

The programs and platforms which can be a non-starter or be rendered useless by the Chinese "kill switch" are the Boeing F-47 sixth-generation fighter aircraft announced by US President Donald Trump in May 2025, US Navy's Virginia-class submarines, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, armed Predator drones, Tomahawk cruise missiles, Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) smart bombs apart from advanced radar systems deployed to track enemy aerial targets.

So what is this kill switch?

China enjoys an unparallel domination in rare earths and critical elements, which are a critical component of almost all advanced weapon platforms. The country is not only the largest producer and consumer of rare earths, but also its biggest exporter. The US is so dependant on these rare earths and critical elements for maintaining its defense technological edge that over 80 per cent of its weapons system use them.

If China decides to play hardball and refuses to supply rare earths and critical elements to the US, the latter's defense industry will come to grinding halt. The Pentagon will be blinded in case there is a disruption in the supply of such critical components.

China has more that 90 per cent of the world’s processing and refining units of rare earths and it is responsible for the producing 98.8 percent of refined gallium in the world. Gallium plays an important role GPS systems and radars.

American combat aircraft airframes and missiles use magnesium while graphite and fluorspar can make or break the systems used for rocket propulsion, lasers, and nuclear fuel processing. In all the three mentioned minerals, China is the fulcrum with is massive refining capacity

During the recent talks on the tariff wars unleased by President Trump, the big ace up Beijing's sleeve was its near monopoly in the production and refining of critical elements and rare earths.

China had in 2023 cracked down on the export of eight gallium-related and six germanium-related products. It had a year later in 2024 also curbed export of antimony, another critical element. In the last few months, starting December 2024, China has completely stopped the export of gallium, germanium and antimony to the US. Critical defence related elements like tungsten and tellurium, too, have been placed on the restricted list by China.

When President Trump announced his steep “reciprocal tariffs” taking effect against China on April 2, two days later Beijing responded by imposing curbs on the export of medium and heavy rare earth elements including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. The restricted items also includes magnets and other rare earths products.

If this situation continues, most of America's most advanced weapons will turn into duds if China raises its great wall to completely ban the export of such critical components. All of these are used in combat aircraft, missiles, naval warships, submarines and advanced radar systems.

Which US weapons depend on China

A F-35 engine, avionics, munitions and radar use over 400kg rare earth elements. Similarly Virginia-class submarines and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers of the US Navy have 4,200kg and 2,360kg of rare earths in their systems. Cruise missiles, armed drones, smart bombs, and radars depend on rare earth magnets for propulsion, targeting and guidance.

With the F-47 fighter on the drawing board, the demand for rare earths and critical elements will only increase.

Almost 81 percent of Antimony used in the F-16 Fighting Falcon as well as Minuteman III nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles is refined in China, although it is mined mostly in Australia. Even the US sends several critical minerals to China for refining and then re-imports them.

None of the current technologies can replace the use of rare earths and critical elements in the advanced weapons and China's near monopoly, especially in refining, is a clear and present danger to the US forces, which have no counter to this "kill switch".