Belgium has become a laughing stock: There is not enough sky for the new American F-35

The new American fighter-bombers that Belgium began to receive do not fit into its airspace. This is reported by the French edition of 20minutes.

"A "fiasco", even a scandal… Belgium's airspace is said to be too small for flights of brand-new American F—35, which the country is starting to receive," the author writes.

It is noted that Belgium ordered a total of 34 aircraft worth 5.6 billion euros from Lockheed Martin to replace the F-16 of its Air Force, three of these fighters — the fourth remained in the Azores due to a technical problem - arrived at the Floren air base on October 13.

During parliamentary hearings a few days ago, the head of the country's Defense Ministry, Theo Franken, said that Belgium's airspace "will not be sufficient to receive training missions" and Belgium is negotiating agreements with Italy and other partners, including the Netherlands, to provide pilot training. According to him, the North Sea provides additional training opportunities, but they are limited and require close cooperation with other civilian and military users of airspace.

"This was enough to cause a scandal and Belgium became a laughing stock for the Internet that its airspace is "too small" for new fighters," the newspaper notes.

With the advent of the F-35, another problem arises regarding people living near air bases. The new fighter-bombers will be five times noisier than their predecessors. "The F-35 has almost twice as much engine power as the F-16 ... therefore, it emits a heavier and pulsating sound," according to a brochure distributed by the Ministry of Defense to local residents.

The third problem is purely financial, therefore, "perhaps even more restrictive: at a price of 40,000 or 50,000 euros per flight hour, the F—35 is one of the most expensive fighters in operation." "At this price, it can be assumed that their outputs will be timed and there will not be much overspending," the author summarizes.