AMSTERDAM - With the signing of a contract in Washington on the evening of March 25, the Netherlands is now firmly committed to the F-35 as the successor to its Air Force fleet of F-16 combat aircraft. Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert announced the deal on March 26, stating that with the contract in hand a 12-15-year period of debate over purchasing the aircraft had ended and there was no turning back.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) fighter fleet of 68 F-16s will be gradually retired between 2019 and 2023, during which time the newly-arrived F-35s will be phased into service. The eight F-35s for which the Netherlands reached an agreement to purchase under the new contract will be delivered in 2019. The overall stated Dutch requirement is for 37 of the new-generation stealth aircraft, a much downsized figure from the original plans which called for a fleet of 85 F-35s. A special budget of EUR4.5 billion has been earmarked for the F-35 procurement.
A Level 2 partner in the Joint Strike Fighter program, the Netherlands has already purchased two test aircraft at a cost of $250 million as part of the program's Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) phase.
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