Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel officially announced on Thursday that Brussels would purchase US F-35 Lightning II fighters, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, to re-equip the country's air forces.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2018) Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel officially announced on Thursday that Brussels would purchase US F-35 Lightning II fighters, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, to re-equip the country's air forces.
The US Lockheed Martin Aeronautics manufacturer and the UK BAE Systems remained the only two participants of the tender for the re-equipment of the Belgian Air Force with 34 new generation fighter bombers. Belgian Air Force currently has 54 US-manufactured F-16 fighters, which have been at the army's disposal since the early 1980s.
According to the Belgian Defense Ministry, one F-35, including its equipment and pilots' training, costs 76.3 million Euros ($86.8 million). Thus, the total cost of the rearmament will amount to 2.5 billion euros, while the government planned to allocate 3.6 billion euros for the implementation of the program.
Meanwhile, media reports claimed that the purchase and maintenance of the fighters would cost the Belgian authorities 15 billion euros.
It is planned that the first F-16 will be decommissioned in 2023, while by 2028 all the aircraft of this series should be pulled out of service.
The contract on the deliveries of US fighters to Brussels is expected to be signed no later than at the beginning of 2019.
