Posted: 12/9/2015 11:41:47 PM EDT
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http://aviationweek.com/defense/netherlands-preparing-f-35-introduction With plans to purchase just 37 aircraft, the Netherlands fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) is likely to be one of the world’s smallest. Yet the fighter’s introduction is seen as a catalyst for change, transforming not only the way the Netherlands thinks about airpower but also prompting cohesion, with bilateral and trilateral discussions with other European operators. “We need to be suitable to operate in a modern agile and ever-changing environment,” Gen. Alexander Schnitger, commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), tells Aviation Week. He says the rapid pace of technological development, the changing security environment and the increasing role of cybertechnology and information has evolved the modern battlefield, and his air arm needs to reflect this. The Netherlands was a 2002 signatory to the JSF program, with the aim of purchasing 85 F-35s to replace its F-16s. In 2009, the Dutch defense ministry ordered two F-35As to support the operational test and evaluation program. However, ministers had not formally settled on a decision to buy the aircraft. It was not until September 2013 that they officially announced the F-35’s selection. But the number of aircraft was greatly reduced, with the budget allowing for just 37 aircraft, eight of which were ordered in March. The Dutch aircraft will be assembled at the Cameri final assembly and checkout facility in Italy. After accounting for aircraft out for maintenance, overseas training duties and the defense of Dutch airspace, the RNLAF expects it will be able to send only four F-35s on operational deployments. Furthermore, these will be limited in terms of time and scope—a dramatic change for an air force usually relied upon by its NATO allies to punch above its weight in support of coalition air operations. Schnitger says that 37 aircraft was the maximum number acceptable to ministers at the time, but he expects the number to rise, albeit not in the short term. “Behind the number 37, I tell my people, there is not a period, but a comma,” explains Schnitger. “The security situation in Europe is changing, [defense] budgets are recovering and every day we take a hard look at our [projected] needs five, 10, 20 years from now,” he adds. The two operational aircraft are currently being flown out of Edwards AFB, California, where they form part of the joint U.S.-led JSF operational test team. |