Norway Wants 12 More F-35s
The Norwegian government has requested authorization to buy 12 additional Lockheed Martin F-35s in its 2017 national budget, allowing the country to participate in the last two years of a proposed international block buy.
Under the budget proposal, rolled out Oct. 6, Norway wants to order six more F-35s in Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) lot 13 and another six in LRIP 14, Norwegian ministry of defense spokesman Endre Lunde told Aviation Week. If the proposal is approved, it would bring Norway’s number of approved F-35s to 40.
The blueprint would allow Norway to participate in the second and third years of a proposed international block buy, beginning in 2019 and covering lots 13 and 14. The government estimates the block buy will yield 385 million Norwegian Krone in savings, or about $48 million, Lunde said. The F-35 international partners are considering moving forward with a block buy beginning in 2018, covering LRIPs 12 through 14. Joint Program Office Chief Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan estimates such a block buy would cover about 450 aircraft over three years and save more than $2 billion.
The U.S. is planning on joining the block buy one year later, in lot 13, Bogdan said last month at the Air Force Association’s annual air and space conference. He expects that plan will be rolled out early next year along with President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2018 budget request.
So does this mean that Norway just compounded their "foolish" decision to buy the woefully deficient F-35 in the first place? ;-)
Last edited by KenV; 12th Oct 2016 at 18:22.