F-16s Make Final Flight In Dutch Service Following F-35 Full Operational Capability Annoucement
The F-16 made its final flight in Royal Netherlands Air Force service on Friday, with six F-16s departing Volkel Air Base for a formation flight lapping the Netherlands.
While the flight path was truncated due to bad weather, the Royal Netherlands Air Force livestreamed the F-16s’ departure and return to Volkel, with all aircraft receiving a water cannon salute to ceremonially mark the end of the F-16’s 45 years of Dutch service.
The Netherlands was one of the first four NATO members to operate the F-16, with Fokker assembling the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s F-16s. Dutch F-16s would not fly combat missions until 1993, when they were deployed to Italy to support NATO’s Operation Deny Flight no-fly zone enforcement mission over Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the subsequent Operation Deliberate Force bombing campaign that helped end the Bosnian War.
Dutch F-16s would then participate in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and support the International Security Assistance Force, as well as flying missions under Operation Unified Protector over Libya in 2011. The Dutch F-16s’ final overseas combat deployment was for Operation Inherent Resolve, supporting the multinational coalition against the Islamic State between 2014 and 2018.
The retirement of the F-16s came a day after the Royal Netherlands Air Force declared full operational capability for its F-35As, with all 40 F-35As currently delivered now deemed operationally deployable for all missions previously conducted by the F-16s, including nuclear deterrence.
Former Dutch F-16s have been delivered to the European F-16 Training Center in Romania, with the Dutch defense ministry stating that four remain to be delivered there to fulfill the pledge of 18 aircraft. The training center graduated its first Romanian pilots in late July.
The Netherlands has also pledged to deliver 24 of its F-16s to the Ukrainian Air Force, and in July announced that it would be spending 450 million euros to support the purchase of armaments for the F-16s pledged and delivered to Ukraine from several European nations.