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Belgium to buy F-35 fighter jets from US manufacturer

22:37 27/10/2018

The Belgian government has made a decision on the purchase of new fighter jets, following a months-long controversy over the condition of its current fleet. The government announced yesterday that it would order 34 F-35A Lightning II jets (pictured) from American defence contractor Lockheed Martin.

The total cost of the 34 jets will be €4 billion, and they are due to be delivered by 2023. The selection was made following a public bid, with just one other contractor in the running: the European consortium Eurofighter.

According to federal economy minister Kris Peeters, the “lion’s share of the expenditure” will flow back into the country in the form of subcontracts promised to Belgian concerns by Lockheed Martin. “The offer from the US includes economic activity in the amount of some €3.7 billion,” he said. Belgian companies, he said, “can deliver parts or help with maintenance and support for the jets. There are also firms involved in security and ICT that will benefit indirectly from these services.”

The decision to purchase the F-35s follows a long-running controversy involving Belgium’s defence department. Last March, Flemish socialists SP.A produced documents proving that the current F-16s – also produced by Lockheed Martin – could be operational for six years longer than was commonly thought. Further investigation revealed that the Defence department knew this and deliberately withheld the information from parliament.

The government was planning to make a decision on new fighter jets this year, with the knowledge that the current jets, between 26 and 36 years old, would need to be retired between 2023 and 2028. But according to documentation from Lockheed Martin dated April 2017, Belgium’s jets were still in excellent shape and could fly up to six years longer.

Federal defence minister Steven Vandeput (N-VA) had previously said that there was no report on the lengthening of the time frame for F-16. He was taken by surprise by the current documentation, he said in March.

A whistleblower within the Belgian Army then released a number of emails that clearly show that the information was passed on to generals but never made its way to parliament. In parliamentary hearings in April, lieutenant-general Marc Compernol defended the army’s decision not to muddy the waters of the public tender for the purchase of new jets with the information, which he said was limited to the body of the F-16s, not to the radar, communications systems and operational controls.

“There appears to be a pattern with regards to the flow of information within defence,” said Groen MP Wouter De Vriendt on the second day of the hearings. “This can be summarised in two points: One, those who knew this information but are not in the hierarchy do nothing. Two, those in the hierarchy who knew dismissed this information from Lockheed Martin without any ‘checks and balances’. I find this problematic.”

Written by Flanders Today