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The article looks at the decision-making process behind the Netherlands' involvement in and commitment to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program when the Dutch government, under Labour minister-president Wim Kok, decided to pursue a replacement for the main strike fighter of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNAF), the F-16, in the late 1990s. The article uses official documents, media reports and interviews with key participants to offer insights into the central variables involved in the decision-making process and the specific periods during which these variables were decisive for moving the project along. It explains the periods 1996-2000, 2002, and 2006-2008 as the ones representing a particular constellation of inputs and outcomes.