Belgium will proceed to purchase an additional eleven F-35A; this has been established by the collective decision of the majority parties within the planned increase in defense spending; the purchase will have to be approved by the Government and transmitted to the Belgian Parliament.
In addition, the Belgian Minister of Defense, Theo Franken, has brought to the attention of his majority colleagues the request to purchase not eleven but twenty-one additional F-35A.
Apparently, the financial effort to purchase the twenty-one required aircraft was considered excessive and unsustainable, having to finance the purchase of new ships, helicopters and air defense batteries, with the meeting point, finally, found at eleven aircraft.
Belgium, therefore, will have a total fleet of 45 Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter-bombers that will completely replace the current F-16AM/BM assigned to the Belgian Air Force.
As emerged in recent months, the new aircraft will be set up in Italy at the FACO in Cameri, following positive talks between the Belgian and Italian Ministers of Defense; the FACO in Cameri is a facility owned by the Italian Ministry of Defense and managed by Leonardo.
The choice to assemble the new Lightning II in Italy is motivated by the need to quickly obtain the new aircraft given that the Fort Worth plant is saturated with internal and external orders for the next few years and delivery times inevitably lengthen.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the first F-35A are being set up with the Belgian Air Force flight and ground personnel, who are training at Luke Air Base in anticipation of the official delivery; at present, eight Lightning II have been built for Belgium.
Photo credit @Belgian Air Force
