The government has the backing of Socialdemokraterne, Dansk Folkeparti, Radikale and Liberal Alliance to buy 27 new F-35 Joint Strike fighter jets for a total cost of 56.4 billion kroner, reports Berlingske.
Initially, Denmark will purchase 21 of the multi-role fighter jets, and then six more later, when it’s clear the state has enough money in the budget.
“This volume will secure that we will be able to perform the same tasks as with our old F-16s today,” Peter Christensen, the defence minister, told Berlingske.
Konservative and SF were against the deal and left the negotiations.
READ MORE: Denmark getting ready for all new F-35 fighter jets
According to Holger K Nielsen from SF, a total of 21 jets would have been enough.
“The government assumes that Denmark will participate in missions in which we will directly go and attack another country. Denmark should absolutely not do that,” Nielsen stated.
“We should not participate in a new Iraq war. We have to emphasise prevention, foreign aid and non-military conflict resolution.”
The defence minister said 139 MPs backed the agreement.
For the purchase to pay off, each of the 27 planes would have to fly 250 hours a year, which is significantly more than the 160 hours that the F-16s have flown a year, reports Berlingske.
