Parliament Has Debated Three Resolutions To End Participation In F-35 Development

The Dutch government has all but officially cancelled their participation in the F-35 JSF program. The Dutch parliament has debated proposals by the SP (Socialist Party), PvdA (Labor) and GL (Green Left) in recent weeks.

The first proposal from the Socialist part stated that the government should not be permitted to contract any new obligations in the JSF project.

File Photo

The Labor proposal called for the cancellation of the contract for the First LRIP3 test aircraft, and to get the money back from the US for long lead items. In addition, it said the Dutch government should not sign any contract for the Second LRIP4 test aircraft, and should cancel participation in the MOU-IOT&E.

The final proposal from the Green Left part says that, because the evaluation of the Dutch air force F16 replacement in 2002 and 2008 was based on wrong estimates and unreliable data, as can be learned from the US JET data in April 2010, a new evaluation process will be needed.

Dutch F16

All of these proposals were accepted, but analysts indicate there is a possibility that after election of a new Parliament in June, the decisions could be reversed.

FMI: www.houseofrepresentatives.nl