TSAMTO, August 16. The Agency for the Acquisition of Defense Products of Norway (NDMA) announced the arrival of the next three F-35A "Lightning-2"fighters in the country.
The planes landed at the Erland Air Force Base on August 11, taking off in the morning of the same day from Fort Worth (pc.Texas). Thus, the total number of aircraft delivered to the Norwegian Armed Forces has increased to 31 units. There are currently 21 aircraft in Norway, ten more F-35A are located at the Luk Air Base (Arizona), where they are used for training personnel. It is planned that three more new F-35s will arrive in Norway by the end of this year.
As reported by TSAMTO, in November 2008, the Norwegian Defense Ministry announced the selection of the F-35 "Lightning-2" as the winner of the tender for the supply of a new generation of fighters to the country's Air Force, designed to replace 57 outdated F-16s, the withdrawal of which is expected to begin in 2022. Eventually, the Norwegian Defense Ministry plans to receive up to 52 new F-35A. The estimated purchase price is 83.3 billion rubles. czk.
The first F-35 fighter jet of the Norwegian Air Force was received during a ceremony held on September 22, 2015 at the enterprise in Fort Worth (pc.Texas). The first three F-35A fighters landed at the Erland Air Base on November 3, 2017. Since then, the Norwegian Air Force has been testing and evaluating the F-35A in Norwegian conditions. The aircraft are part of the 332nd Fighter Squadron located at the Erland base.
On November 6, 2019, the Norwegian Air Force Command announced that the fleet of F-35A "Lightning-2" fighters had reached the state of initial readiness for combat use. The Air Force Command plans to announce the full readiness of the aircraft for combat use in 2025.
Norwegian fighter jets have already taken part in the operation of patrolling Iceland's airspace under the auspices of NATO in 2020. By 2022, the Norwegian Air Force will have a sufficient number of F-35s, pilots and maintenance personnel on the territory of the country, which will allow them to take on a "rapid response"mission.
According to the approved plans, from 2018, the Norwegian Air Force should receive 6 new F-35s per year until 2024. So far, these rates are being observed. The service life of the F-35 is tentatively estimated at 40 years.