NATO member state Norway is set to receive three Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II jet fighters to add to its arsenal this week.
Posted BY: | NwoReport
NATO member state Norway is set to receive three Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II jet fighters to add to its arsenal this week.
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All of the aircraft are scheduled to land at Orland Air Force Station on Thursday, while the Nordic nation will receive an additional three more of the advanced fifth-generation fighters this fall. Norway’s program of record is for 52 F-35 aircraft – and to date, 31 have already been delivered.
“The F-35 program is solid and mature. This is also highlighted by the fact that the users together have already accumulated more than 650 thousand flight hours. More than 20 thousand of these hours are in Norwegian aircraft based at Luk, Orland, and Evenes, and the program was a great success for Norway,” explained Colonel Egil Sorstronen, who is the Norwegian head of the US F-35 Multinational Program Office [JPO].
The Royal Norwegian Air Force currently operates a unique F-35A variant aircraft that is equipped with a drag chute to assist with landing in icy and slick conditions and to reduce landing distance on short airfields.
It is unclear if any of the new F-35s set to arrive in Norway will take part in this month’s bi-annual cross-border Arctic Challenge that sees some 14 nations take part in the massive Nordic air force drills. The event – hosted by Finland, Sweden, and Norway – will kick off at four different military air bases on May 29.
This year’s Arctic Challenge will include daily combat training in the skies involving some 140 aircraft. In addition to Norwegian F-35s, a number of Lightning IIs from the United States and Italy take part in the exercises, flying alongside the Czech Republic’s and Sweden’s JAS Gripen fighters.
Putin doesn’t give a damn about the Bradley fighting vehicle with wings, aka the F – 35 not very stealthy jet fighter.