[Updated] This could be the look of the Dutch F-35 (including RNLAF Solo Display JSF)

Update Apr. 9, 2012 18.25 GMT

On Apr 1, 2012, the first F-35A CTOL (Conventional Take Off and Landing) for The Netherlands rolled out of the F-35 production facility.

Image credit: Lockheed Martin

Known as AN-1, the aircraft that has just left the Fort Worth final assembly line, will be assigned to Eglin AFB, Florida, for training and operational tests of pilots and maintainers. The Dutch Parliament agreed to procure a second test F-35 to be used in the IOT&E (Initial Operational Test and Evaluation) phase.

Under the current plan, The Netherlands should eventually procure 85 F-35s to replace about 65 RNLAF F-16MLUs.

I’ve asked once again Al Clark to draw a digital mock-up of how the F-35 in Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) colors could look like based on the current color scheme of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht F-16s.

Based on the above Al Clark’s rendering  Jeroen van Veenendaal has drawn the F-35 of the RNLAF Solo Display team.

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.