Norway Wants More F-35s

Norway has requested 6.9 billion kroner (nearly $1.07 billion) from Parliament to invest in six new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, to be delivered in 2019.

This figure includes 4 billion kroner (nearly $618 million) for the six aircraft, with all Norwegian-specific costs added in, Norway Ministry of Defense spokesman Endre Lundre wrote in an Oct. 9 email to Inside the Navy.

The remaining 2.9 billion kroner ($448 million) covers spare parts and additional procurement of the program's Autonomic Logistics Information System, Lundre wrote. This also includes the country's share of the Norwegian-Italian reprogramming lab for the F-35, he added.

"Actual funding for these various procurements will be provided through annual budgets," Lundre wrote.

Including the six new aircraft, Norway will procure 22 F-35s altogether.

The United States and international partners involved in the F-35 program have been considering amending reporting procedures for major problems with the plane, Inside the Pentagon reported last week:

The possible change in procedure is prompted by a June 23 engine fire at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. According to the program executive officer for the F-35, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, communication between partners about the fire was not handled well.

"The first two weeks we were floundering," Bogdan said at a Sept. 3 event at the National Press Club. "The enterprise has gotten together and realized we need a new process for the F-35 . . . to extract information to go to the bigger enterprise so the bigger enterprise can make some decisions" after a major event. The proposed new process would help partner nations decide if it is safe to fly the plane, Bogdan said. He added the engine fire will not be the last mishap with the F-35, so it is important to inform the eight partners and multiple foreign military sales partners.

According to Kyra Hawn, an F-35 spokeswoman, the newly proposed procedures would increase communication in instances of an ambiguous or major problem like an engine fire, where the root cause is not immediately known.

Currently, there are lines of communication between partners regarding regular maintenance issues, such as landing gear failing to deploy. However, unknown and major problems are usually dealt with internally and then released later or through a Freedom of Information Act request, she said.