Down Payment

Norway today ordered a pair of F-35 fighter jets, initiating a staggered plan to purchase the aircraft for its Norwegian Armed Forces in small increments over the coming years.

The announcement was made by Norwegian Minister of Defence Espen Barth Eide, who noted that the purchase of the first two aircraft was a key milestone for Norway's F-35 program, according to a ministry statement. The country expects delivery of those jets by 2015 with the purchase of a second set of F-35s to follow, according to a ministry spokeswoman.

"We were supposed to have four test planes, as we call them, in 2016, but we decided we want two in 2015 and two in 2016 . . . so that we can be as prepared as possible," she said.

Norway will buy up to 48 aircraft after that, initiating additional aircraft purchases beginning in 2017, according to the statement.

The F-35 program to date has experienced numerous delays and cost increases. A recently released Government Accountability Office report shows that the Pentagon has deferred plans for near-term production of more than 400 aircraft over the past three years. GAO recommended that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta direct the office of cost assessment and program evaluation to examine the impact of lower annual resource levels in an effort to mitigate aircraft deferrals, risky funding assumptions and future budget constraints, InsideDefense.com reported yesterday.

Norway has been monitoring the progress of the program and has maintained an open dialogue with both Panetta and Lockheed Martin, prime contractor of the F-35, the spokeswoman said.

The F-35 procurement phase is estimated to cost Norway $10 billion.

Inside the Air Force reported last week that U.S. and Norwegian defense officials had formally awarded a study contract to Lockheed Martin to conduct risk-reduction activities on a munition for the F-35:

Norway is one of eight full international partners on the F-35 program, and the country's top defense contractor, Kongsberg, produces an anti-surface and anti-ship munition termed the Joint Strike Missile (JSM). Like many JSF program participants, Norway has insisted on some level of industrial participation, and working the missile into the F-35's future for use both by the Norwegian air force and other militaries has become a key goal for the country's MoD and defense industry.

On behalf of Norway's MoD, the Defense Department announced on May 31 that it has awarded F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin a nearly $20 million contract for the "Joint Strike Missile Risk Reduction Study." That study, paid for by the Norwegian government, will include wind tunnel tests, engineering analysis, physical fit checks and the design of an emulator to determine future activities in integrating the missile onto the F-35, according to the contract announcement

In a June 6 email provided to Inside the Air Force by JSF Joint Program Office spokesman Joe DellaVedova, a Norwegian defense official said this study will help inform more advanced integration efforts in later years.

"This will include testing the fit of the JSM into the F-35, further wind-tunnel testing, emulator tests, and so forth," the official said. "The study was actually initiated in 2011 following the approval by the Norwegian Parliament of phase 2 of the JSM development process. This then merely follows as an extension of this process and marks another milestone in the work to ensure that the necessary preparations for any future integration into the F-35 have been made."