Denmark agreed to purchase 16 more F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jets to its current fleet in a decision to which it committed $4.5 billion, slightly more than half of a recently approved defense budget. “With the acquisition of 16 additional F-35 fighter jets, we deliver a historic strengthening of the Danish Air Force and the Danish Armed Forces. I am very pleased that we have concluded this agreement on the additional F-35 acquisition, which significantly increases the combat power of the Danish Armed Forces,” stated Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen.
This decision is similar to one announced by the United Kingdom in July, amid growing European determination to counter Russian aggression in Europe.
Denmark’s new defense budget also calls for acquiring a number of unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
The delivery schedule for the next purchase round has yet to be determined. The Ministry of Defence will negotiate that schedule with the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office - including a possible “accelerated delivery of the new fighter jets to support a rapid upscaling of the Danish Armed Forces’ combat power,” it stated.
The $4.5 billion also will fund purchase of F-35 spare parts, threat simulators, flight simulators, training instrumentation, braking parachutes, deployment kits, facilities, and additional staffing.
The F-35 is a single-engine aircraft designed for deployment for ground attack and combat missions by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy and 18 other countries’ defense forces. The F-35 program is the largest U.S. defense program, and while Lockheed Martin is the program’s lead contractor others include Pratt & Whitney, BAE Systems, and hundreds more manufacturers.
Denmark is a NATO nation and one of the initial partner nations in the F-35 program, along with Australia, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. It currently operates 15 F-35A jets, and six of those are stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, for training Danish fighter pilots.
”Expanding the fleet of F-35 fighter jets is a key decision in the build-up of the Danish Armed Forces,” Danish Chief of Defence Michael Hyldgaard. “The F-35 fighter jets are already a crucial operational part of both operations and assertion of sovereignty. With the decision to acquire 16 additional fighter jets the combat power, flexibility and Danish contribution to NATO is increased significantly.”
Denmark’s remaining 12 aircraft from that initial, 2016 acquisition of 27 F-35s are scheduled to be delivered in 2026, and the full complement are expected to be in service in 2027.
The F-35 is a single-engine aircraft designed for deployment for ground attack and combat missions by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy and 18 other countries’ defense forces. The F-35 program is the largest U.S. defense program, and while Lockheed Martin is the program’s lead contractor others include Pratt & Whitney, BAE Systems, and hundreds more manufacturers.
The F-35A is one three variants of the aircraft, for conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) and in use by the U.S. Air Force and other air forces. Other variants are in use by the U.S. Marine Corps (F-35B, for short takeoff and landing) and U.S. Navy (F-35C, the carrier-based variant for catapult-assisted takeoff and arrested recovery.)