In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws on April 14, 2025, Belgium’s Defense Minister, Theo Francken, formally proposed that future F-35 fighter jets ordered by Belgium be assembled in Italy rather than in the United States. The minister also revealed that he had already made the request to his Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto.
The article also goes into more detail of what’s already been delivered under the program, the underperforming economic returns for Belgium, the bookkeeping shenanigans to take on more debt, and more.
This may resolve the parts access issue, but if the US Gov still controls access to the electronic system backend that’s an issue.
Here’s hoping the jets are better than the Fyra trains we bought.
A simple kite would meet that requirement…