Despite the tensions with the United States led by Donald Trump, Belgium will buy US F-35 hunting again, excluding the French Rafale once again. However, planes could be built in Italy. This is the compromise achieved by the Brussels government, which in this way continues to carry on military dependence on the USA, at least on a technological level, but at the same time supports the European defense industry, as desired by the European Commission.
The announcement
Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-Va) announced it during a parliamentary session in which he illustrated the details of his government’s recent Easter agreement. A key component of the intensity concerns the expenditure for the defense: Belgium will increase its military budget to achieve the target of 2 percent of GDP, as required by NATO, by 2025, four years in advance of the initial forecasts.
This involves an additional expenditure of 4 billion euros for this year, even if the details on how the funds will be allocated are expected for July.
Regardless of the debates on the budget, De Wever said that Belgium must meet the requirements of operational capacity set by NATO. Since the country has already ordered 34 F-35, any further purchase will be of the same model. However, the premier specified that the new planes could be produced in Italy, recalling a previous declaration by the defense minister Theo Franken.
Malumori
However, within the government coalition there are divergences on the need to buy other F-35. Yvan Verouugstraetete, new leader of the Francophone Centrist Party Les Engagésexpressed its opposition last week: “Obviously it is a government decision, but I think the money could be spent better elsewhere,” he told De Standaardadding that “otherwise we risk aggravating our dependence on the United States”.
Addiction to the USA
Belgium’s decision is part of a larger European context of revaluation and strengthening of transatlantic defense bonds. At the end of March, the United Kingdom confirmed the intention to proceed with a multimillary agreement for the purchase of other F-35s, citing the prohibitive cost of the Eurofighter Typhoon. This occurs in an atmosphere of growing concern, in particular by Germany, on the geopolitical risks related to reliance on US defense systems, especially in the light of the return to power of Donald Trump.
Several countries are reconsidinating their commitments in the F-35 program, evaluating alternatives such as French Rafale or Swedish Grpen. Both Portugal and Canada have reported their intention to review their choices. The Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carry recently wondered if the purchase of jets – part of a 19 billion canadis dollar agreement (about 12.2 billion euros) – is really the best investment for the country at this time. Canada has already paid a deposit for the first 16 jets, whose delivery is scheduled for the beginning of next year.
