Hot Air: Costly US F-35 Fighter Jets Miss the Mark, Denmark Finds
13:36 03.11.2017
To the dismay of Denmark's Air Force, which had been betting on
F-35s replacing the country's aging fleet, the National Audit Office has
decided that the pricey war toy is overrated, arguing that the Defense Ministry
has been far too optimistic in its evaluation.
For Denmark, where the acquisition of the US F-35 fighter jets
is set to become the largest-ever state purchase, the new report
highlighting the shortcomings of its prized possession, is hardly good
news.
The new fighter jets, which are expected to set Danish state
coffers back DKK 66 billion ($10 billion), could actually yield much more
modest performance than that stated by the Defense Ministry, the
National Audit Office (NAO) found in a report.
According to the NAO, the Defense Ministry has overestimated
the amount of tasks the 27 new F-35 aircraft can handle. Another blunder
regards how many hours the aircraft can spend in the air. While the
Defense Ministry proceeded from a solid 250 hours a year, the same fighter
jets only are airborne 168 and 210 hours in Norway and Holland
respectively, Danish Radio reported.
"There are a couple of over-optimistic figures," Ole
Wæver, a professor of international politics at the University
of Copenhagen, said. According to Wæver, there are two important
consequences. "First, some of those who have promoted the decision
may well feel cheated. The other problem is that the aircraft we have purchased
are unable to perform as expected," he explained.
Denmark's leading daily Berlingske suggested in an opinion
piece that the newly-revealed shortcomings may force the country to buy
more aircraft than the 27 initially decided, in addition
to tarnishing the Armed Forces' reputation.
"The dishonest figures also reveal that both civil servants
and ministers are willing to use fake marketing to promote an
otherwise sensible political choice," Berlingske wrote.
The NAO's criticism came shortly before Parliament is
to make a final decision on the purchase of the 27 new F-35
combat aircraft that will replace the 44 Danish F16 aircraft that have been
in service since 1980s.
The agreement on the new combat aircraft was concluded
in June 2016 between the Liberals, the Social Liberals, the Liberal
Alliance, the Danish People's Party and the Social Democrats.
Source: S.T.
|
Rasmus Jarlov, defense spokesman of the Conservatives, which
did not support the agreement, said that the NAO's report was not surprising.
"We reached the same conclusion last year. But it's good that
the NAO can confirm that we were right," Jarlov said.
Despite the criticism of the ministry's assessment of the
aircraft's capabilities, Social Democrat defense spokesman Henrik Dam
Kristensen is confident in the decision.
"I have a lot of respect for the NAO, but when
we talk about flying hours, it's very important to listen
to people who are knowledgeable about aircraft technology,"
Henrik Dam Kristensen said. "I just believe that the combat aircraft
department, which is manned with experts in the area, may be better
at assessing this than the National Audit Office," he ventured.
Source: Airheadsfly
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Original post: sputniknews.com
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