OREANDA-NEWS A scandal is breaking out in Belgium over the start of deliveries of American F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom, which turned out to be too expensive to operate, noisy, and also completely excessive for this small kingdom, the 20minutes newspaper writes.

The first outburst of criticism of the new expensive aircraft was caused by a recent speech by the head of the Belgian Defense Ministry, Theo Francken, in the federal parliament, where he stated that the kingdom's airspace was "insufficient" to conduct fighter training flights, and it would be necessary to negotiate the use of the skies of France, Italy and the Netherlands.

"Belgium has become a laughing stock on the Internet with its sky too small for the F-35," the publication points out.

Another unexpected problem was the noise from the new planes. The opex360 specialist website adds that another issue related to the F-35 is noise, which can pose a problem for those living near air bases, as these new fighter-bombers are reportedly up to five times louder than their F-16 predecessors. A brochure distributed by the Ministry of Defense to local residents explains that the F-35 engine is almost twice as powerful as the F-16 engine and therefore emits a heavier, pulsating sound," explained 20minutes.

And finally, it turned out that the cost of an F-35 flight hour is about 50 thousand euros, which is why this aircraft has become the most expensive in operation among fighters. "With such expenses, it is safe to assume that his flights will be strictly regulated," the publication is confident.

In 2018, Belgium signed a contract for the purchase of 34 fifth-generation F-35 fighters for a total of 5.6 billion euros. At the moment, the kingdom has received four aircraft, while the delivery of one fighter was delayed due to technical problems found in it.