Beleidsnota, or plans Dutch Min. of Defence

[Spotter2000]

Not real news but the following has been decided,
The NL Air Force will keep 8 Cougar helicopters active (these include 3 for SAR duties)
The DC10 aircraft T-255 wil remain active till the 31st december 2013.
The following aircraft will have to go,
9 x Cougar
3 x AB412
20 x Lynx
2 x Fokker 50
18 F-16 (was 19 but one crashed in the meantime)

[CheeseHead1992]

This list is incorrect. The disapearence of the Fokker 50, Lynx and AB412 isn't a result of the budget cuts. They are (being) replaced by additional C-130's and the NH-90.

Correct list:
18 x F-16
17 x Cougar (of which 8 remain in service till 2017)
1 x DC-10 (remains in service till 2014)

[aviodromefriend]

The disapearence of the Fokker 50, Lynx and AB412 isn't a result of the budget cuts. They are (being) replaced by additional C-130's and the NH-90.

Which isn't completely correct. The additional Hercules were to replace the Fokker 60s. When they transfered from the desert to Cambridge years ago, no plans to retire the Fokker 50s were made. And IF the 50s were thought to be taken out of service at that time, there wouldn't be a need for the deal with Chile to fall through (which fell through because they could only get the 60s, not the two 50s). U-05 and U-06 are victim of budget cuts, but from the last cuts made by Balkenende/van Middelkoop, not the cuts from Rutte/Hillen.

[Stafsels]

Does the loss of 18 F-16's mean that another squadron will disappear for the list of 312, 313, 322 and 323 (leaving three squadrons left besides the contribution to the 162sq in the States) OR that the loss of 18 F-16's is the already axed 311sq, leaving four squadrons behind?

Greetings,

Henk

[Richard from Rotterdam]

The F-16 presence at Tucson has been decreased by 4 airframes recently, my guess is that this will be seen as a measure within those 18 airframes cut.

[aviodromefriend]

The F-16 presence at Tucson has been decreased by 4 airframes recently, my guess is that this will be seen as a measure within those 18 airframes cut.

AFAIK those four will be operated by the squadrons in Holland again. This is "only" what is mentioned in the dossiers published around Prinsjesdag, kind of reconfirming the cuts announced back in April and before, that will be implemented in the coming years. No new additional cuts. BTW those 18 fighters are 311 related.