Denmark will acquire 16 additional F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, bringing its total fleet to 43 aircraft, according to the Danish Ministry of Defence.
The decision, agreed by the government and the parties to the Defence Agreement, represents a major expansion of the Danish Air Force’s combat capability.
Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in the press release: “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.”
The Ministry of Defence will now enter discussions with the F-35 Joint Program Office regarding acquisition details, including the potential for accelerated delivery to enhance readiness.
General Michael Hyldgaard, Danish Chief of Defence, said: “Expanding the fleet of F-35 fighter jets is a key decision in the build-up of the Danish Armed Forces. 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.”
The expanded acquisition package will include spare parts, flight and threat simulators, training systems, deployment kits, braking parachutes, facilities and staffing. Denmark also plans to purchase a number of unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft to complement the F-35 fleet.
Denmark originally ordered 27 F-35s under a 2016 agreement involving multiple political parties. The first aircraft arrived in-country in October 2023 at Fighter Wing Skrydstrup, with six more based in the United States for training. The initial 27-aircraft order is due for completion in 2026, and the F-35 is expected to reach full operational capability in 2027.
It’s a shame that Europe has little to contest the F-35 among its domestic fighter industry. The Rafale is simply outperformed and has suffered from blows to its reputation following the losses in India earlier this year. The Gripen is getting old, and is limited by its small size. The Typhoon has suffered immensely from a lack of investment and the lethargic pace of the upgrades, leading to a fighter that has always seemed technologically ‘five years behind’.
The same can be said for all three of the Euro-canards in actuality. They were, perhaps with the exception of the Gripen, brought into service far later than what was required for them to be effective. The Typhoon was born into a world in which the Americans had already raised the bar significantly, to the point that peer-performance simply was never an option.
The F-35A is by almost all accounts the more adaptable, better-performing, better-supported, more modern, better-equipped, more advanced, more survivable aircraft, all whilst being significantly cheaper than any of the Euro-canards at the point of purchase. That price is only going down.
Roll on Tempest.
Eu Canardly believe it !!!
True but F35 suffers from lack of indigenous weapons integrstions
😁
Easy to say this in retrospect but there is no way the F-35 would have been the answer to the questions posed back in the days it was devised. It’s the best bad solution presently available but with the lack of weaponry available to it barely at best.
Totally agree.
You’d never do it that way these days….
Like any Gen1 effort….
Thank you it’s always nice to have a representative of the Lockheed Martin sales team here. Mixing some truth (hey we are comparing two different generations of aircraft here after all) with a seasoning of arguable and ‘alternative’ facts with a good dose of hyperbole seems, to be the way of life these days when more rational objectivity would be a better perspective when making comparisons in my view.
Let’s not forget the F-35 itself has come in for some relentless criticism, the airframe itself in many ways is inferior to those aircraft you mention, only the add ons be it stealth, much troubled electronic suites and its ability to work with external sensors, platforms and technology gives it that big advantage over those others, without those assets inherent in a 5th Gen aircraft it would be a near sitting duck to most 4 or 4.5 Gen aircraft. But yes those assets are not to be disparaged and I don’t I just put things into perspective give. The aircraft in reality as a 5th Gen platform is deeply compromised, its future far from certain, it’s restricted by a single engine, poor range, poor aerodynamics with associated limited speed and only average manoeuvrability, poor if improving availability and of course an appalling developmental record. This is not something to be applauded, it’s just the best bad option out there till better aircraft come along. Presently it has no real competitors, so yes it’s the best available solution undoubtedly, but still we better hope those ‘add ons’ as I call them stay sustainable and effective in time of true conflict especially in the next more testing decade. So let’s not be complacent, the US is already recognising its limitations and we need to do the same and make sure (as will NGAD hopefully) Tempest takes things a good stage further because I fear China will be moving ahead otherwise and perhaps decisively so. The F-35 is the best option but don’t let’s over egg the mix.
As an aside having made the analysis above, I am concerned for France (if only indirectly) in that as things stand, they not only don’t operate a 5th Gen fighter aircraft (because I recognise the limitations of 4/4.5 Gen aircraft) but won’t have an equivalent 5th Gen or better aircraft until the 2040s even if they finally get their act together, how do they cope with that scenario?
Not sure about the cheapness. The Danish order for 16 F35A includes spares and there is a reference to CCA drones. But the cost is £3.2b.
For the UK, building more Typhoons ( as Germany,italy and Spain are doing ) must be a cheaper option than F35, with far greater British content.
It is disturbing that Denmark with population of 6m and gdp @ 12% of Britains will have a third as many combat aircraft.
Whatever the UK defence budget, the result is punching below our weight, not above it.
How many F35’s in Europe now ? Anyone know ?
Wiki says @ 218 so far.
F35B is still a veritable white elephant. Weapons carriage very limited still. Massive engine and software issues. And very expensive.
Indeed as things stand we have an aircraft than can get to where it needs to be but not do very much once it gets there. The 4/4.5 Gen aircraft can’t get there but if only they could, are equipped to do a lot once there. All a bit unbalanced.
So in terms of aircraft ordered we are well down the list in numbers and timescale, having to share our 47, when they finally arrive, btween the RAF and RN. We will have 12 A variant for “training” and another 15 B (maybe) by 2033. Meanwhile, we have to send the aircraft out with hardly a modern stand off weapon betwwen them. Brilliant.
Yes that’s the true stripped down reality, no point painting it with lipstick.
The USA will soon have AARGM-ER & JSOW-C integrated on to block 4 F-35. An off the shelf partial solution for UK F-35 if we wanted it.
Denmark will have 43 F35’S whilst Britain with a huge EEZ including overseas territories, much bigger economy / population and approx £60 billion defence budget has so far ordered 48, with another 27 at some far off point.
Across the board as European defence procurement starts to head upwards it makes British efforts seem hollow and lacklustre.
Yeah but we also have 100 Typhoons.
But I get your drift.