With the arrival of the F-35, the Dutch F-16 fleet is getting smaller. Many of the defunct F-16s are still used as parts of the flying aircraft. Foreign buyers are also interested in the rejected Dutch F-16s, writes Defense magazine Subject wise⁇
Last year, Defense announced that twelve Dutch F-16s had been sold to Dragon International. This American company is constantly hired by the U.S. Defense Forces to support the exercises. Dragon has a number of fighter jets, including A-4 Skyhawks, L.159 ALCAs and Mirage F1s. Usually these devices act as a practical adversary. Recently, the Dragon also has F-16 aircraft of the Norwegian Air Force.
The Netherlands has already sold surplus F-16s to Chile and Jordan in recent years. Had to arrange a lot to sell to private. Various departments within the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs and Finance are involved. The approval of US authorities is also required. “They are our devices, but they have a lot of American technologies in them that should not fall into foreign hands, so we are only allowed to sell the devices with their permission,” said Major BD Rob Hookboom of the Department of Purchasing / Marketing and Marketing (DMO) at Materieel.
Hookboom: “The ten F-16s sold are from the Dutch training unit in Tucson, which will be dismantled by the end of July this year. The other two are from the Volks 312 force. In addition, the contract provides for the timely sale of 28 more devices, including accessories. The money we receive for these deals flows back into the security budget.
The devices are resold very ’empty’. It removes strategic systems, target pointer and internal artillery. Due to the intended practical work, the new owner is mainly concerned about the device. According to Hooke Boom, Dragon was very pleased with the purchase: “The Netherlands is known for its solid maintenance. Dragon was keen to do business with us.
