MILAN — After facing delays, the first F-35A aircraft is expected to arrive in Belgium in the coming months as part of a total order of 34 fighter jets, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

In 2018, Belgium selected the American jet and agreed to a €3.6 billion ($4.1 billion) deal for over two dozen of them to be manufactured in the United States.

“Belgium’s first F-35 to arrive in country has rolled off the production line and is gearing up for arrival in Belgium this fall,” Lockheed Martin Europe wrote in a social media post on their X platform.

Deliveries were initially slated to begin in late 2023, but due to delays in the production of the Joint Strike Fighter program, they were pushed back.

In an interview in February with Belgian newspaper Le Soir, Chief of Staff of th

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