Belgian-Dutch-American consortium will provide infrastructure for F-35 fighter aircraft | Inland

Belgium purchased 34 F-35 aircraft in 2018 for an amount of approximately 3.6 billion euros. Defense expects delivery of the first F-35 fighter aircraft in 2025 in Florennes, Namur. Kleine-Brogel, Limburg, will follow in 2027. However, a new infrastructure is needed to house and maintain the devices. “The current infrastructure dates from the 50s and 60s and is therefore not adapted to the requirements of a modern fighter aircraft,” says the Ministry of Defense.

For that reason, a new complex for the F-35 will be built at both bases. The new infrastructure will be realized through a public-private partnership in which a consortium is responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of the infrastructure. In the contract it was agreed that the consortium is not only responsible for the design and realization of the buildings, but that it is also responsible for the technical maintenance of the infrastructure for a period of 10 years.

The winning consortium includes the Belgian company ‘Jan De Nul’, best known for its dredging activities. In addition, the Dutch and American design agencies ‘Arcadis’ and ‘Burns&McDonnell’ are also involved in the consortium.

It concerns an investment of 300 million euros per basis, or 600 million euros in total. That is twice as much as the previously estimated cost of 300 million euros. According to Defense, a first partial delivery of the buildings in Florennes is “planned in the summer of 2024”. Defense has opted for an almost identical complex at both locations. Each complex will consist of four major parts: an administrative part, a logistics part, a secure area for training and operations and the ‘flightline’, where the fighters are placed in a secure environment.