Industrial compensation around the F-35 half less than expected in Belgium

In October 2018, the Belgian authorities announced the acquisition of 34 F-35A fighter jets from the American Lockheed-Martin to replace its F-16 fleet, thus aligning with the Dutch choice, Amsterdam having ordered in 2013 37 devices of this type, a format which will grow to 52 devices today, and which could well continue to grow now that the Dutch authorities have undertaken to increase their defense effort to 2% of GDP.

However, the decision of the Michel government in 2018, largely conditioned by the intense lobbying of NATO and the Flemish Minister of Defense Steven Vandeput, has never stopped stir up controversy across Quiévrain, with in particular a recurring questioning from several Belgian parliamentarians.

And the recent revelations published earlier this week in the Brussels press will likely generate a new wave of protests, as the country questions whether the possibility of ordering additional devices.

Indeed, according to several press articles, the economic compensation promised by the United States and Lockheed-Martin in application of the order for the 34 aircraft, for €4 billion, is far from reaching the targeted €3,69 billion.

To date, they only amounted to €700 million, mainly through two contracts, one concerning the relationship of titanium parts for the wing of the aircraft with the company Asco of Zaventem, the the other being established on future maintenance contracts concluded with certain Belgian companies.

In total, the Ministry of the Economy now forecasts that the total economic return in application of the promised compensation will amount to €1,85 billion, or precisely half of the amount initially announced, and which had been doubted from the outset by some parliamentarians and by the Belgian press, as well as by the French press particularly virulent on the subject, even if it avoids looking at industrial compensation around the Franco-Belgian CaMo program, also €4 billion.

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