After months of debate and rumours the Belgian government today officially confirmed that it will purchase 34 Lockheed-Martin F35A Lightning IIs as a replacement for their Lockheed-Martin F16AM Fighting Falcon. Total estimated cost for the purchase is 3,8 billion Euros, this amount also includes the support equipment.
Yesterday the selection procedure was presented to the parliament defense commission and today the formal decision was taken.
During the selection three major elements were taken in account, capability of the aircraft, price and economic return.
After the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and Denmark, Belgium becomes the 7th European nation to select the Lightning.
A second aviation related decision that was made is the acquisition of a number of 4 General Atomics MQ9B SkyGuardian MALE-drones that will most likely replace the IAI/Eagle B-Hunter UAVs.
Kind regards,
Laurent Heyligen
Low Approach Aviation Photography
www.lowapproach.be
This is a subscription only section
Want to read more? It's only €10/year.
No account yet? Just Create an account first and head to the shop