“After evaluating the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Boeing F / A-18 Super Hornet and the Lockheed Martin F-35 as the next primary fighter for Denmark, the country's government recommends the F-35 unequivocally, as it is superior in several aspects: strategic, military, economic and for industrial impact ”.
The government's final report recommending the acquisition of Lockheed Martin's tactical fighter has been published on the Danish Defense Ministry's institutional website. "The Joint Strike Fighter is by far the best aircraft capable of replacing the current F-16 fleet, which has been in flight for 35 years now."
The Danish government has not carried out any actual tests among the fighters. The comparison was made hypothetically by government-recruited experts who evaluated a number of factors, including that of the life cycle. Saab too Gripen was initially evaluated, not arriving in the final stages of the acquisition process for the new tactical fighter. The Danish government recommends spending $ 3 billion for a fleet of 27 F-35s in service from 2020 to 2049.
"The aircraft's reduced radar signature, as well as advanced systems and sensors, improve the pilot's tactical overview, ensuring aircraft survival and remarkable performance."
Here are the advantages of the F-35A according to the official government report: "Survival: The aircraft is able to protect itself against enemy weapon systems".
“Effectiveness: the fighter plane does the assigned task well”.
"Future developments: its operational capacity with technically applicable updates will keep it up to date for the next 30 years".
The Danes have also decided that the F-35 will be significantly cheaper, as they will have to buy less than the Typhoon andHornet. It reads: "The F-35 airframe was designed to be able to fly 8.000 hours, while theEuro Fighter and Super Hornet they cannot fly for more than six thousand hours ”. To the detriment ofHornet also its two-seater configuration. Based on this calculation it was established that 28 F-35s will be able to perform the same missions as 34 EFA 2000 or 38 F-18.
In the documents, however, the purchase of 27 F-35s is recommended. Due to spending cuts, the Danish government, which published the request for a new tactical fighter in 2010, was forced to scale down the fleet to 30 units, up from 48 initially planned.
The last word will be up to the country's parliament which, almost certainly, will release the three billion dollars (20 billion Danish crowns) to purchase the 27 F-35s requested by the Scandinavian government.
(photo: Lockheed Martin)
