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Fighter jet: did the Netherlands favor the F-35?


(B2) Would the government of the Netherlands have favored the American fighter project, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), during the selection in the 2000s, knowingly discarding the most recent versions of its competitors? Yes, according to journalists from the NRC Handelsblad who had access to certain confidential documents of the Dutch Ministry of Defence.

When the government decides to invest 800 million dollars in the development program for this aircraft - which is to take over from the F16 - it does not take into account, in fact, all the information from European competitors who have models in development. more modern: neither the most advanced version of the Eurofighter - version 3 - nor the latest version of the French Rafale aircraft. In the comparison table, we can clearly see that the French Rafale plane holds the line against the JSF, and even that its F4 version exceeds it (see the table below).

As a result, the government could calmly recommend, on February 13, 2002, to the deputies of the Second Chamber who were to decide on the investment, that the evaluation report show that the JSF project is "the most efficient from an operational point of view".

Today, the Dutch government must decide definitively to buy the devices. An envelope of 5,6 billion euros is at stake. If the Eurofighter and the Rafale have thrown in the towel, only the Swedish Saab remains on the track with its new generation Gripen. This information is timely for the Swedish who has just obtained a final deadline (until September 30) to present the latest information to the second chamber. And the government cabinet must indeed decide on the final purchase of the first JSF next February (see NRC Handelsblad article).

(NGV)

Photo credit: JSF - NRC Handesblad document

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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