On the future fighter aircraft of the Belgian Air Force
Belgian political leadership has been postponing the decision about the successor of the Lockheed Martin (previously General Dynamics) F-16 for a few years now. In light of budget cuts and a more integrated EU defense force it wouldn’t hurt to look at the choices our closest neighbours have made.
In the past few years, the Belgian Air Force has worked together closely with the Royal Netherlands Air Force. They even share the same fighter: the F-16. Given that the Dutch decided to buy the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, it would be wise for the Belgians to buy the F-35 too. This way they can align training and maintenance procedures. However, the 85 million dollar F-35 is not production ready. Its software is buggy, and its hardware seems to be quite flammable leading to its test program often being grounded.
However, why not look to the south? As with the Dutch, Belgium also shares a language with the French. And the Belgian fighter pilots are trained in France already (on Alpha Jet). France is slowly replacing its aging fleet of Dassault Mirage 2000's with Dassault Rafales. Contrary to the F-35, the 94 million dollar Rafale is already operational.
Ofcourse, there’s more to choosing a jet fighter than merely considering the hyperlocal geopolitical situation. Perhaps I’ll do that in a follow-up post.
This post was inspired by a video of the Commanders’ Intent of the RNLAF and the BAF Air Commanders. Recently the Belgian Ministry of Defense released the preparation survey of its Air Combat Capability Successor Program (PDF).
