The first F-35A Lightning II fighter jet for the Belgian Air Force is on the assembly line of US group Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, the Ministry of Defence announced on Monday.
The outer wing box, which is the structure of the wing base, is now being put together.
The wing of the aircraft is finished on the production line and then moves on to the next stage of the manufacturing process, Defence explained in a statement.
Construction of these components began this summer at the F-35A production facility of Italian group Leonardo - an industrial partner in the F-35 programme - in Cameri, Italy. Defence says it expects the first Belgian F-35A to be completed by the end of 2023. No date has been given for the first flight of the first aircraft.
The first four F-35s of the 34 aircraft ordered – to be registered FL-01 to FL-34 – will remain stationed in the United States, at Luke Air Force Base, near Phoenix, Arizona, for initial pilot and mechanic training.
This will also be the case for the next four F-35s, in 2024.
The first four are not expected to arrive at Florennes Air Force Base in Belgium until 2025, in principle in April.
In October 2018, Belgium's government purchased thirty-four F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighters for €3.8 billion to replace its fleet of fifty ageing F-16s – the first of which had been delivered in 1979.
To this amount must be added the €238 million provided for in the STAR plan, approved last June by the current government, for the further development of the F-35’s capabilities over the period 2031-2035.
