The Royal Netherlands Air Force will receive nine extra F-35 fighter aircraft, during Prinsjesdag, it became official.
The 9 extra F-35 fighter jets cost around 700 million euros and come on top of the 37 F-35s that the previous government had already decided to order. That makes a total of 46 aircraft.
At the moment the air force base Leeuwarden has one F-16 squadron and Volkel two. There are now a total of 61 F-16s. In five years all of these must have been replaced by the F-35s.
Ik ben vandaag in Cameri, Italië, waar de eerste aldaar geproduceerde Nederlandse F-35 zojuist gepresenteerd is. Op 31 oktober verwelkomen we de AN-09 op @VlbLeeuwarden en het wordt daarmee ook het 1e in Nederland gestationeerde toestel. Op naar de volgende 28! pic.twitter.com/TouGkHiWPW
— Barbara Visser (@Barbara_Visser1) September 12, 2019