Dutch Parliament saves cabinet with JSF compromise

The Dutch Parliament on Thursday adopted a motion delaying a final decision on the possible purchase of 85 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft until the year 2012, a year after the 2011 general elections. It also decided not to buy two (as planned) but one JSF operational test aircraft, and delayed a final decision on whether or not to buy that single aircraft until next year.

The motion adopted by parliament leaves open the option that the first test plane will be returned to the United States producer, Lockheed Martin, albeit at a price: 20 million euros. The total cost of a single test plane is 110 million euros. The deal means that, until the final decision is taken, the Netherlands will remain a full partner in the JSF development programme.

The discussion on buying two JSF test planes brought the Dutch governing coalition - the Christian Democrats, the Labour Party and the Christian Union - close to crisis this week. On Wednesday, Labour MPs came our fiercely against deciding on the test planes now, claiming there was insufficient information available to make a balanced decision.

This left Labour diametrically opposed to the Christian Democrats, the largest party in the coalition, which wanted to buy the two test planes immediately. The motion, which has now been passed, represents a compromise designed to save face for both parties. The motion was put forward by Labour and seconded by the two other coalition parties.

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