Belgium to buy 11 additional F-35 fighter-jets, 21 ‘not feasible’ at the minute

Belgium’s Defence Strategic Plan states that the country will buy an additional 11 US F-35A aircraft, on top of the 34 ordered in 2018.

The first four aircraft have already been delivered and will be used to train Belgian pilots in the US.

The first Belgian F-35s will arrive at the Florennes air base in October. But NATO wants Belgium to have a greater air capacity to help provide a nuclear umbrella to deter Russia.

Nuclear deterrence is top priority

Together with the member states, NATO determines what the priority capabilities are for each member state. For Belgium, there are four priority capabilities. The exact details of these remain secret.

It is an open secret that co-supporting the nuclear deterrence force using the US nuclear bombs at the Belgian air base of Kleine Brogel is a top priority for the country.

There are some 10 to 15 US nuclear weapons at the Kleine Brogel base that can be deployed by Belgian fighter planes. Today the craft used are US F-16s.  They are soon to be replaced by US F-35s.

Why does Belgium need so many F-35s?

The Belgian air force needs to be able to do 3 things at once:

Air surveillance of Belgian airspace, and sometimes Benelux airspace.

Occasional foreign missions, such as guarding the airspace of the Baltic states or fighting terror groups like IS.

Day and night co-supporting the nuclear deterrent.

According to NATO, Belgium needs 55 deployable F-35 aircraft. Since some aircraft are needed for training or are sometimes under maintenance, Belgium would actually need 69.

21 extra aircraft not feasible now

In 2018 Belgium decided to purchase 34 F-35s and would thus need to buy 21 more to reach the above-mentioned number of 55. But ‘21 additional F-35s is not financially feasible now,’ says a source close to the dossier.

Last week, the federal government reached an agreement on exactly how the extra money for the military will be spent to meet the (old) NATO norm of 2 per cent of GDP for military spending. But the purchase of F-35 fighter jets was still under discussion at the time. The government has thus finalised plans to order 11 more F-35s and not the desired 21.

"By the way, it is not necessary for this government to take this decision now. The production line at manufacturer Lockheed Martin is working at full capacity in the coming years. The first additional F-35s can only be delivered after 2033, after the first 34 have been delivered," VRT’s defence source explains.

This means that future governments can decide to buy additional ones if necessary.