Belgium commits to additional F-35As

With 35 F-35A aircraft on order, Belgium is now to acquire a further 11. (Benoît Denet)

Belgium has committed to buy an additional batch of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft to add to those already contracted and being delivered.

Belgian Minister of Defence Theo Francken made the announcement from his official X (formerly Twitter) account on 18 July, confirming reports of an increased national buy that had been circulating for some weeks.

“We're [going to] buy 11 extra F-35s… They will be produced in Italy,” Francken said. The minister did not disclose when the contract for the additional aircraft will be signed, or its value.

The Belgian Air Force currently has 35 F-35A aircraft on order, being built at the primary Fort Worth production facility in Texas. The first eight have already been built and are now at the recently established Belgian F-35 Conversion Unit (BEL F-35 CU) at Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona.

Belgium first raised the possibility of buying more F-35As in April, with Prime Minister Bart De Wever then telling parliament that the current order was insufficient and that as many as 11 more aircraft were being considered. In this respect, Belgium is joining the Netherlands in increasing its F-35A programme of record, while Germany and Poland are considering additional orders as well. The United Kingdom is also set to shortly sign for an additional tranche of F-35Bs, as Europe begins to ramp up its procurement in the face of increased Russian belligerence and decreased US support.

For more information on Belgium's F-35A programme, please seeBelgium steps up F-35A preparations .