What will Belgium choose — Typhoon or Lightning?
...Anthony Gregory is the Campaign Director for Belgium at BAE Systems. He told Combat Aircraft: ‘Belgium is looking for a deep and enduring collaboration and this represents the most extensive partnership the RAF has ever put forward.’ The UK offer to Belgium is understood to include the full Project ‘Centurion’ weapons set and full integration into the TyTAN support model for the most efficient cost per flying hour. The aircraft on offer is understood to be a snapshot of what the RAF expects to be flying in 2023 — probably a P4E-vision with the E-Scan radar, Striker II helmet, SPEAR 3 and the full UK weapons set; Meteor, ASRAAM, Storm Shadow, Brimstone and Paveway IV.
Traditionally, Belgium has enjoyed a close working relationship with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, but the Dutch involvement as a Tier 2 partner in the F-35 program means their Benelux brothers are currently left on the sidelines and standing to incur a significant cost to buy into the Lightning II program. Gregory points to the UK and US Air Force models of partnering F-35 with the F-22 or the Typhoon, the ‘complementary mix’ of assets — the Typhoon being the high-end air defender, and the F-35 not being as well suited to quick reaction alert (QRA) or air policing. So, partnering Typhoon with F-35 could provide a rounded solution for the Benelux...
