Netherlands is geared up to purchase the F-35 stealth fighter jets by adding another eight or nine jets to its order for 37 aircraft after Washington’s decision to expel Ankara from the F-35 program, Dutch defense minister Ank Bijleveld revealed.
After years of effort, in 2014 the government agreed that the Netherlands will buy 37 stealth fighters to replace the already existing fleet of aging F-16s. The cost of the 37 planes is estimated to be €4.6bn, while operational expenses will cost around €285m per year.
Earlier this week, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his country was willing to step up and help fill gaps in the F-35 supply chain if the U.S. expels Turkey from the production line of F-35.
Washington on Wednesday pushed Turkey out from the F-35 program after when Ankara got delivery of the 1st batch of S-400 Russian Air Defense system, which according to the United States could breach into data of NATO military operations and compromise their defense systems, specifically F-35s.
Ankara had signed up for a deal to buy 100 F-35s, the U.S.’ most advanced fighter planes, and had invested $1.4 billion in the F-35 program. Turkish companies were manufacturing 937 parts of the plane and held a notable position in the production line of a stealth fighter.
“The Netherlands is absolutely willing, of course, wherever we can, to help if there would be a gap in the program itself,” Rutte said on July 18.
There are numerous countries willing to fill the gap appeared by Turkey’s absence in the F-35 fighter jet programme, according to Metin Gürcan, a former Turkish military adviser and analyst, who said countries are aligning themselves for the first batch of 30 fighter jets originally allotted for Turkey, which are not going to Turkey as Washington-Ankara relation amid tensions over S-400 issue.
“Actually, Israel is very active in this matter, they have already requested from the United States the two aircraft delivered to us,’’ Gürcan stated on Twitter.