Denmark’s fighters ‘wearing out’

Denmark's government now wants a quick decision on new fighters to replace its fleet of F-16s.

Gary Parsons - 5-Feb-2010

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February 5: Danish trade publication Ingeniøren reports that the country’s Defence Minister, Søren Gade, is now demanding a quick decision on the purchase of new fighters to replace its fleet of F-16s.

A recent report on the Royal Danish Air Force’s fleet of 60 F-16AM and BM aircraft says that each one costs around DKK3 million (€400,000) a year to maintain due to increasing age – the fleet was acquired between 1980 and 1982.

A rush to buy a new fighter may mean the end for Denmark’s aspiration to buy the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as it is unlikely to be ready before 2018. “A decision will give Danish industry the best opportunities to position themselves in relation to the preferred supplier to secure orders and access to advanced technology and advanced production methods,” Gade said in a memo sent to members of the Defence Committee, the Ingeniøren report said.

In October last year Gade said: “'I would like to have had a political agreement this summer, but the most important thing is that we take the right decision. I have to live with it; I would hate to be the one that made the wrong decision.”

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