- yes: i want an dutch f-16 instead.
- No: i want it to stay Belgian.
Today it was announced that France’s newest high-tier premium aircraft will be a Belgian F-16AM MLU. This is certainly disappointing for French players who would have preferred a domestic airframe to fill this role.
It is also very disappointing for fans of Dutch aviation, as the Royal Netherlands Air Force is currently extremely underrepresented compared to other subtrees in the air mode. The highest-BR Dutch aircraft in the researchable techtree is currently the Hunter F.6 from the 1950s, while the most advanced Dutch aircraft in-game is the F-16A Block 5 from the late 1970s, which was only available as a limited-time event vehicle.
The reason I would like Gaijin to reconsider this choice is that Belgium is already very well represented when it comes to F-16s. Belgium currently has three F-16 variants in the French tree: two in the tech tree (the F-16A and F-16A MLU) and one squadron vehicle (the F-16A OCU). In comparison, the Netherlands has only a single F-16 represented in-game: the event F-16A Block 5.
What makes this choice even more frustrating is that Belgium already has the exact same F-16AM configuration represented in the game. Both the existing tech tree aircraft and the newly announced premium are exactly the same F-16AMs, meaning they only differ only in their liveries.
A Dutch F-16AM would still be an F-16, but it would at least offer something different from the current Belgian MLU. Dutch F-16AMs featured several visual differences, including the brake chute housing and the fuselage reinforcement plates found around the airframe, features that Belgian F-16s lack. In addition, it would finally provide representation for the modern Royal Netherlands Air Force, as the Dutch subtree currently does not contain any aircraft newer than the 1970s.
The Benelux subtree was introduced to represent both Belgium and the Netherlands, yet the higer air trees overwhelmingly favor Belgium. Replacing this premium with a Dutch operated F-16AM would still provide France with the same gameplay capabilities that gaijin apparently wants while helping to create a more balanced representation of the two nations within the subtree.
