Danish Defence Command to Receive First F-35 Jet Tomorrow

The Danish Defence Command (Forsvaretdk) under the Ministry of Defence of Denmark will take delivery of its first F-35 fighter jet tomorrow.

“Ready for delivery! Tomorrow, Denmark’s first F-35 will be handed over to Forsvaretdk at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas,” the Embassy of Denmark in U.S. announced in a tweet.

The aircraft will remain in the U.S. where it will be employed for pilot and maintainer training under the auspices of the U.S. Air Force’s 308th Fighter Squadron, part of the 56th Fighter Wing.

Denmark flew its first F-35 Lightning II production aircraft ‘L-001’ around mid-March. It became the fifth European NATO nation to be armed with the F-35 alongside the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Italy.

The Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) expects to receive its first F-35A on home soil in 2023. Flight operations are due to commence there in 2023, as deliveries run through to 2026.

A total of 27 F-35s are on order (signed in 2016), and they will serve with the fighter wing at Skrydstrup. The wing currently has two squadrons (Esk 727 and 730) flying around 30 F-16AM/BM jets.