AFP / AFX, COPENHAGEN: Denmark will decide next year or at the start of 2007 whether to buy the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), produced by Lockheed Martin Corp, to replace the F-16s that will be retired from service in 2015, daily Berlingske Tidende said, citing defence minister Soeren Gade.
Only the selection of manufacturer and aircraft type will be taken then.
The number of aircraft and the size of the purchase would depend on the next agreement on defence among the country's political parties.
It is expected that there will 48 F-16s in operation in 2009. Replacing them with 48 JSFs would cost about 13 bln dkr.
Gade said the decision would be brought forward to help Denmark's aerospace industry, without disclosing when it had previously expected to make the decision.
'This is quite simply out of deference to our own industries, but also to the industries or aircraft manufacturers that are not selected,' Gade said.
He expects to sign a memorandum of understanding at the end of 2006 with the US government, covering the further development of JSF.
However, that will not cost Denmark more than the 125 mln usd that the Danish state and aerospace industry have already invested in the development of the fighter aircraft.
