Danish MOD recommends buying Lockheed Martin F-35

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 12 (UPI) -- The Danish Ministry of Defense recommended Thursday that Copenhagen buy 27 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters jets to replace its aging F-16s.

The purchase would cost roughly 20 billion Danish krone, or about $3 billion, according to a ministry release.

The F-35 beat out Boeing's Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Officials considered military, industrial, economic and strategic factors before making the recommendation.

The F-35 was found to have the lowest life-cycle costs among the three candidate jets, according to an executive summary of the recommendation.

The recommendation prescribes funding the purchase through current defense budget levels.

"This will be done primarily by using the currently available funding in the acquisition and logistics budget until 2026, as well as funds made available by already implemented budget measures."

The recommendation adds that the ministry's budget "will also need to be further opitimised."