First Norwegian F-35 Due This Fall

The first Norwegian F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is scheduled for delivery this fall, with the aircraft designated AM-1 entering the final stages of the manufacturing process at Lockheed Martin's production facility in Fort Worth, TX, according to a Feb. 6 Norwegian Ministry of Defense press statement provided by the prime contractor.

Norway's current program of record would purchase 52 conventional takeoff and landing F-35s to eventually replace its F-16 fleet.

AM-1 is part of low-rate initial production Lot 7, which involves the purchase of 29 Joint Strike Fighters for the United States and a total of six jets for international partners Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Norway's aerospace industry builds a variety of components for the F-35, including Kongsberg Defence Systems' Joint Strike Missile that will be carried externally on the aircraft's wings and inside the bomb bay.

"Together with the Norwegian-developed Joint Strike Missile the F-35 will be one of the core capabilities of our future defense structure, representing a significant increase in our combat capabilities," MOD State Secretary Øystein Bø said in the statement.

Norway's first JSF order was placed in 2012.