Dutch to buy fewer F-35 jets than planned - minister

Reuters ^ | Apr 15, 2012

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Dutch to buy fewer F-35 jets than planned - minister

(Reuters) - The Netherlands will buy fewer than the 85 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets it had planned to acquire because costs have risen and the country needs to replace fewer F-16 fighters, the Dutch defence minister said on Sunday.

The costs of developing and building the F-35, which will replace F-16 fighters, have been rising. Japan and a U.S. Air Force official have warned they may order fewer planes if costs go up further.

Asked on Dutch television programme Buitenhof if the Netherlands still planned to buy 85 F-35 planes despite higher costs, Dutch Defence Minister Hans Hillen said: "The next cabinet will decide. It will certainly be fewer."

The Netherlands had planned to buy a total of 85 F-35 planes over the period 2019 to 2027, the Dutch Defence Ministry said in a letter to parliament last year. The ministry has reserved 4.5 billion euros to replace the existing F-16 fighters.

Hillen declined to say how many F-35s the Netherlands would buy instead but said fewer F-16s needed to be replaced.

"When we signed up (for the F-35) we took the number of F-16s at the time as a basis. When I became minister we had around 90 F-16s. Now we have 68," Hillen said.