Portugal seeks open competition between U.S. F-35 and European fighters to replace F-16s

Portugal's Defence Minister Nuno Melo said on Wednesday Lisbon will seek to foster an open competition between U.S.-made F-35s and European advanced fighters to replace its ageing F-16 fleet, aiming to maximise operational, industrial and economic benefits from the procurement.

Discovered 2025-11-05T10:54:34.801784-08:00 | 2025-11-05T10:54:34.801784-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

The procurement will define which OEM secures long-term industrial offsets and domestic workshare: see Airbus's MoU with AED Cluster Portugal to pitch the Eurofighter as an early industrial bid.
Portugal's stance sits amid shifting transatlantic fighter politics — linkable to the country's earlier Rafale decision and allied concerns over U.S. tariffs that have affected F-35 purchases — which will influence timing, program risk and partner negotiations.

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Aviacionline opex360.com Reuters