I thought the deal about the F35 and other fighter planes was that when the various countries bought this hardware they got to build a part of it. Really as a way to soften or justify the absurd cost of these things,

For example here in Denmark, the Danish company Terma which is specialised in radar technology produces a number of components for the F35:

https://www.terma.com/media/444108/f-35_and_terma_171012_scr...