Defense Launches the Process of Replacing F-16
(Source: Belga news agency; published June 4, 2014)
(Issued in French and Dutch; unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com)
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articl ... ocess.html
Belgium has kicked off the process to replace the F-16AM fighters it will retire from 2023 by issuing a RFI to the 5 government agencies in charge of the most likely candidates. (Wikipedia photo)
The Belgian Ministry of Defence recently sent a Request for Information (RFI) to five foreign government agencies, two of them American and three European, regarding the five combat aircraft that are the most likely candidates to replace the Belgian air force’s elderly F-16 fighters, several concordant sources said Wednesday.
The RFI, which does not commit to a future purchase nor to the selection of a specific aircraft, "aims to gather information" beyond the open-source data used for initial evaluation, several defense ministry sources said.
It nevertheless represents the first step in a - long - process that should lead to the acquisition of new fighter before the expected life of the F-16 from 2023, as long as the next Federal government agrees to their replacement.
The five state agencies to which the RFI was sent are:
-- Joint Program Office (JPO) in charge of the F-35 Lightning II program built by Lockheed Martin;
-- the Navy Integrated Program Office (NIPO) for the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet;
-- the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) of the French Ministry of Defence for the Dassault Rafale;
-- the Swedish Defence and Security Export Agency (FXM) for the Saab JAS-39 Saab; and
-- the UK Ministry of Defence for the Eurofighter consortium's eponymous fighter, a spokesman for the Defense ministry told the Belga agency.
