The Danish Government is recommending the purchase of 27 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters for its future defence needs after completing an evaluation between three aircraft types.
The F-35 was put up against the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon, but according to the Type Selection report (see our Defence Week Premium story) came out strongly in front.
The recommendation will be put to the Danish parliament where it will be debated for approximately a month before a decision is approved. Denmark would be the 11th country to buy the radar-evading jets, joining the US, Britain, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, South Korea and Japan.
There has been intense public debate over the cost of modernising the Royal Danish Air Force, currently equipped with the F-16 as its fronline fighter.
Despite assurances from Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office that the cost per plane would fall from about $US100 million to $US85 million by 2019, the JSF is still the most expensive option of the three presented.
Denmark is one of the eight international partners that helped fund the development of the F-35.