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Delayed hangar prolongs Danish F-16 service
Christian Wenande
June 29th, 2018
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But fighters are not as worn down as expected, says Defence Ministry
Ukrainian pilots would need to be retrained to fly the F-16s (photo: Flyvevåbnet)
Delays to the hangars that will shelter the Danish Air Force’s new F-35 fighter jets means that the Defence will have to make do with the old F-16 fighters a little longer than expected.
In a note to Parliament, the defence minister, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, wrote that the F-16s will have to remain in service six months longer than scheduled.
The delay is down to the decision earlier this year to move the F-35 complex to the southwestern part of Flyvestation Skrydstrup airbase to reduce the sound pollution as much as possible.
READ MORE: Danish west coast could become training region for NATO fighter jet
Oldies but goodies
The good news is that extending the service for the F-16s shouldn’t be a problem because they have worn down less than expected over the past two years.
The F-16s are due to be phased out by 2024, when the Defence has enough F-35s to fulfill the duties currently handled by the F-16s.
The F-35s are due to be delivered between the end of 2022 and April 2023, while the F-16s will remain in service until the first half of 2025, instead of the end of 2024, as was originally predicted.
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