JSF: Dutch Ditch?

By Marcus Weisgerber / May 21, 2010 at 5:00 AM

Several published reports over the last 24 hours claim the lower chamber of the Dutch parliament wants to cancel the country's already ordered F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and drop out of the test program.

As reported by the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad:

On Thursday, during this parliament's last official session, a slim majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by the Labour party that called upon the cabinet to end Dutch participation in the 'operational test phase' of Lockheed Martin's JSF-project.

The motion fell short of a definitive refusal to invest billions, but it is the latest step in a long political march in that direction which began in 2002.

The Netherlands is a Level 2 partner on the JSF program. The country inked a deal with Pentagon on June 17, 2002, to contribute $800 million to the test program. It plans to purchase 85 F-35 to replace its aging F-16s.

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