His Majesty King Willem-Alexander spent the morning visiting the airbase in Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands to view the new F-35A Lightning II fighter plane and the new remotely operated and unmanned MQ-9 Reaper plane.
King Willem-Alexander met with the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Commander of the Leeuwarden Airbase who told him about continual changes in the global safety situation and the need for the new planes. Their focus will be on gathering and sharing information. The arrival of the new planes also meant that the security and the infrastructure of the airbase had to be modified. A new office and a building for schooling were also built.
The King visited the new office and building and he viewed the first F-35A Lightning II fighter plane that had been delivered to the airbase. More planes are expected to be delivered in the future. The airbase will have to wait a bit longer for the new MQ-9 planes, which are expected to be delivered in 2020. King Willem-Alexander also toured the new room where the analyses of the data gathered by the new MQ-9 planes will be made and he met with airbase staff to speak with them about how their work will change with the arrival of the new planes.
