https://www.defensenews.com/global/e...or-11-billion/

COLOGNE, Germany – The Dutch government on Tuesday announced plans to purchase nine more of Lockheed Martin's F-35 jets, a move that would bring the country's inventory to 46. The envisioned €1 billion acquisition will “lay the foundation” for a third F-35 squadron in the Dutch air force, a plan that government officials first floated in late 2018, according to a statement posted on the defense ministry website.

The additional aircraft are expected contribute to the air force's objective of having four jets available for NATO missions while also performing homeland defense operations and accounting for training requirements and maintenance downtime. Fully rounding out a third squadron would require 15 extra planes, however, alliance officials have previously told the Dutch, prompting talk in the Netherlands last year of a potentially higher number eventually......

Burning through that already reduced airframe life? where are those who claimed that it wasn't an issue due to synthetic training reducing usage...you cant do Q in a sim!!!

Still good for LM!!!

Well that's almost as many as we have so far committed to. Then we're sharing 'tween the RAF and RN. Any word yet on the remaining potential 90? ie, are some likely to be A's?

FB

Italian AF F-35 x 6 now on the rotational Air Policing task at Incirlik, Iceland:

Pretty sure the last time I went to Incirlik it was very firmly in Turkey. Has it been relocated in the vicinity of Reykjavik?

F-35 Joint Program Office has contracted for Lots 12-14, comprising 478 jets for US Military, Partner Nations & FMS customers: at $34Bn, largest ever; 17x jets for UK; 9% of all production done in the UK; & $80M-benchmark for F-35A delivered by Lot 13, a year earlier than plan.

"Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $7,027,643,109 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive-firm-target, cost-reimbursable contract (N00019-17-C-0001). This modification provides for the procurement of 114 F-35 aircraft for Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy; non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Specifically the modification procures 48 F-35A aircraft for the Air Force, 20 F-35B aircraft for the Marine Corps, nine F-35C aircraft for the Navy, 12 F-35A aircraft for the government of Norway, 15 F-35A aircraft for the government of Australia, and eight F-35A and two F-35B aircraft for the government of Italy. The above U.S. aircraft quantities are inclusive of fiscal 2019 (Lot 13) plus up aircraft. In addition, this modification adds scope for the Air System Diminishing Manufacturing Sources integration, software data loads, critical safety items, red gear, non-recurring engineering, recurring engineering and the Joint Strike Fighter Airborne Data Emulator. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (57%); El Segundo, California (14%); Warton, United Kingdom (9%); Cameri, Italy (4%); Orlando, Florida (4%); Nashua, New Hampshire (3%); Baltimore, Maryland (3%); San Diego, California (2%); Nagoya, Japan (2%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (2%), and is expected to be completed in March 2023. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy); non-DoD participants; and FMS funds in the amount of $7,027,643,109 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($2,812,512,346); Marine Corps ($1,297,487,314); Navy ($612,389,812); non-DoD participants ($2,243,321,947); and FMS ($61,931,690) customers. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity."
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Con...ticle/2001094/

Contract for durability testing of F-35B to 8,000 flight hours / 30-year service life.

"Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $148,417,608 cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0301) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-19-G-0008). This order procures durability testing support for the certification of the F-35B aircraft variant to a minimum of 8,000 flight hours/30 year service life in support of the Marine Corps and non-Department of Defense participants. The effort includes the test article configuration, the test article build, the test plan, the testing itself, and teardown and analysis. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (65%); Palmdale, California (25%); and Samlesbury, United Kingdom (10%), and is expected to be completed in July 2032. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Marine Corps) and non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $6,083,023 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity."

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Con...ticle/1999639/

Nice to see the longevity issues are already being addressed....

"drippingsarcasmsmiley"

Not including those delivered in the first few tranches no doubt....

Leeuwarden fireman selects foam rather than water to welcome Hollands first F-35...:p

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5370f82af4.jpg

First Dutch Based F-35A Gets Foam Salute on Arrival
 

Folks, you just can't make this stuff up. ;)

Quote:

---

Crash trucks at the Royal Netherlands Air Force's Leeuwarden Air Base were supposed to provide a water cannon salute to mark the arrival of the country's first operational

---

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ath-by-mistake

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....815aadf860.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b879e1f169.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1f62eacbd4.jpg
Picture credits: Dutch Ministry of Defence

Reports radar absorbing coating will need a depot level service after the spraydown.

How much damage would this idiocy have caused to the aircraft, its stealth finish or engine?

These 'water salutes' really are rather silly.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d5c3828a9.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....67bd53793.jpeg
Screenshots taken from the livestream.

Initial responses range from 'no problem' to 'Lockheed Martin recommends airframe requires a full teardown and rebuilt if at all salvageable' so the truth is somewhere in between I guess. An engine run with what appears to be a compressor wash was carried out later the same day (see below) so they did have some cause for concern I guess.

I can just about buy that one of the fire tenders forgot to switch to water, but both of them........
A few lessons for some of our institutions though: Note to BBC, how to make over an hours TV coverage out of something that usually takes 20 seconds on the news, note to RAF, book a Tina Turner lookey-likey to spice things up next time we have a new aircraft delivered, much more 21st century...
Hat, coat

Your captions ?
 

CAPTION COMPETITION ANYONE ?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5370f82af4.jpg[/QUOTE]

I shall open the bidding with.... "Dutch AF deploys secret weapon and renders Russian AF helpless (with laughter) in one hit"

Looking at the first image in AirBubba's post (and having seen the footage) I would hazard a guess that only one of the fire tenders was using foam, as the two sprays show different characteristics.

Caption suggestion - NSFW.