Boeing Challenges Denmark In Court Over Its F-35 Fighter Jet Selection

Boeing has lodged legal action against Denmark Defense officials for refusing to fully disclose documents, showing how it evaluated competing fighter jets before it selected Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet.

“It’s been almost six months since we requested the documents, and the ministry has not responded as required,” said Tom Bell, a senior vice-president of global sales and marketing with Boeing's Defense, Space and Security unit.

Denmark picked Lockheed Martin's F-35 advanced tactical fighter and became a partner in the Joint Strike Fighter program over Boeing's Super Hornet and the Eurofighter group's Typhoon, which is made by a group that includes Airbus and British Aerospace, Puget Sound Business Journal reported Thursday.

Boeing challenged it, saying "the evaluation process was flawed and unfair". The company submitted paperwork to the Danish Ministry of Defense - called a Request for Insight - that supposedly required the government to provide Boeing with all the materials related to its fighter procurement evaluation and final decision.

Last September, Boeing publicly protested Denmark's 2016 decision to award the $3 billion contract for 27 new fighters to Lockheed Martin. Senior Boeing executives requested the internal Danish government documents to prove their case.

Boeing Defense Europe spokeswoman Marcia Costley said, Danish military officials have "shared only a small fraction of the documents Boeing is entitled to review."

Denmark's new jets will replace Denmark's aging fleet of F-16 fighters, which are to be phased out between 2020 and 2024.