The Copenhagen Post

Thursday
August 26th
Front page News National Joint Strike Fighter price now double

Joint Strike Fighter price now double

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Continual price hikes and delays in final production have made the American Joint Strike Fighter an albatross around the neck of Danish Defence

One of the jets that Danish Defence has been considering as a replacement for its F-16s just got more expensive – again.

The US Defence Department has upped the price of American manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter to 540 million kroner per plane, according to news agency AFP.


But when original negotiations for purchasing the jets began in 1999, the going rate was around 275 million kroner per plane. The US military, which has been heavily involved in the plane’s development, has increased the cost several times since then.

At an official hearing in the US Congress, a military spokesman said the new price was an adjusted figure taking into account inflation and other factors. But many US politicians say that American taxpayers are the ones ultimately footing much of the bill.

‘The people are getting a bit tired of this whole affair, and I have to admit I understand where they’re coming from,’ said Senator John McCain of Arizona.

The Joint Strike Fighter, also known as the F-35, is expected to be fully developed by 2016, although the original release date was set for 2012.

In addition to the JSF, Denmark’s military has reportedly been considering Saab’s Gripen, Boeing’s F-18 Superhornet and the joint-EU project Eurofighter.

Denmark also sunk many millions into the JSF project under former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who had close ties to the George W. Bush government. Several Danish companies – including the influential A.P. Moller-Maersk Group – had been subcontracted to perform work on the American combat planes as early as 2004, should the JSF have been selected by the Danish Defence.

But the project took another major hit last month when the man heading it, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, was fired due to the continual development delays.

Søren Gade, who recently stepped down from his post as Defence Minister, had called for a decision on which aircraft would replace the F-16s by this summer.

Now MPs are not expected to decide the matter until 2012. But the JSF is facing stiff opposition from many politicians who believed it was too expensive even prior to the most recent price hike.

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