Key Points
- The Danish government has decided to purchase the F-35 to replace the country’s F-16s
- Denmark had been expected to choose the JSF, which topped all four of its key evaluation areas
Denmark has selected the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to replace its F-16s, the Danish government announced on 12 May.
In total Denmark proposes to buy 27 F-35s at a cost of around DKK20 billion (USD3.06 billion), according to the government announcement, to replace the 30 F-16s it currently operates.
The F-35 had been competing for the Danish requirement against the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet.
In its 104-page recommendation, the Danish government states the F-35 topped the assessment of all four key criteria for the 30 years of the programme: strategic; military; economic; and industrial.
In Denmark major defence decisions such as these are made on a cross-party basis, with the government recommendation now subject to talks and agreement with Denmark’s other political parties. This is expected to run for the next month or so. Given the overwhelming nature of the government proposal, however, it would be surprising should the recommendation not receive political backing.
On strategic aspects, the evaluation ranked the F-35 first, noting, “The broad scope of the group of Joint Strike Fighter users will foster both Denmark’s transatlantic ties and the country’s collaborative relations with a range of European partners.” It ranked the Typhoon second, for its “European dimension” and strengthening “defence and security policy co-operation with Germany”, while ranking the Super Hornet last for not having any users in Denmark’s neighbouring areas.
Military aspects were judged on the basis of four areas: survivability; mission effectiveness; future development; and candidate risk. The F-35 was judged to have better survivability and mission effectiveness than its rivals, owing to its low radar signature and advanced sensors.
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