First F-35s Arrive it Belgium: Why It Rejected the Rafale and Eurofighter For America’s Top Stealth Jet

The first Belgian Air Force F-35A fighters have arrived in the country at Florennes Air Base, Belgium, marking a major milestone in the modernisation of the country’s aerial warfare capabilities as it prepares to phase its Cold War era F-16s out of service. The aircraft were selected for procurement in 2018, marking a major landmark for the American fighter program’s penetration into European markets as it swept aside local competition. Commenting on the procurement, Chief of Defence of the Belgian Armed Forces General Frederik Vansina observed: “Together with our NATO and European allies, we’re building a wall of F-35s — a shield of over 700 aircraft securing our European skies… That wall is not a symbol of aggression, but of determination. It says loud and clear: the skies over Europe belong to those who defend freedom, not to those who seek to destroy it.”

The F-35 provides a revolutionary improvement to the capabilities of the Belgian fighter fleet, with the country’s F-16s having long since been considered obsolete for high intensity conflict, and relying on radars that are not only much smaller than those of the new aircraft, but also far less efficient and more vulnerable to jamming.Elaborating on the new capabilities provided by the F-35s, Commander of the Belgian Air Force Major General Geert De Decker observed: “With the F-35, Belgium is reclaiming its place among the world’s leading air forces, equipped with the most advanced technology, integrated within a multinational and interconnected environment… Belgium is acquiring a fifth-generation fighter jet, a flying weapons platform capable of carrying out multiple missions in a single flight.” Having ordered 34 fighters in 2018, the Belgian Defence Ministry in July 2025 announced its intention to procure 11 additional fighters to bring the fleet size to 45.

The arrival of the first F-35s in Belgium had notably been delayed, with the Belgian Defence Ministry in 2023 refusing deliveries after the fighters were found to be “technically unsatisfactory” and in need of further software improvements before meeting the Air Force’s standards. The fighter program has been plagued by extreme performance issues with approximately 800 defects still afflicting it, a number which has not changed significantly in well over half a decade due to both the slow speed at which issues are resolved and the continuous discovery of new flaws, with the U.S. Marine Corps and Republic of Korea Air Force being among the other parties to note major problems. Most recently, just three of a planned four F-35s arrived in Belgium, as the fourth was left behind due to what the Defence Ministry described as “technical uncertainty regarding its flying capabilities.”

The Belgian Defence Ministry chose the F-35 in a 2018 tender to replace its U.S.-supplied F-16s, favouring it over competition from fourth generation fighters such as the French Rafale and pan-European Eurofighter. This was done despite Brussels having faced considerable pressure from Paris to select the Rafale, as well as offers of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of investments and industrial cooperation.Belgium has been followed by Switzerland, Finland and others across Europe in selecting the F-35 over European competitors, forcing the Rafale and Eurofighter to target markets which are unable to procure the F-35 for political reasons such as Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia. The F-35 is not only considerably more sophisticated than European competitors, with its avionics suite and advanced stealth capabilities allowing to operate in an entirely different league, but it is also produced far more efficiently and on a much greater scale allowing it to be supplied more cheaply.

As the only fighter of its generation in large scale production outside China, the F-35 has consistently won all tenders in which it has competed against other Western fighters. The aircraft was designed with a strong focus on the ability to suppress and destroy enemy air defences, which is considered particularly valuable in the European theatre due to the Russian Armed Forces’ extreme reliance on ground-based air defence systems to protect the country’s airspace.