MILAN — Norway has received three new F-35A aircraft, marking the delivery of 49 fighters, with the remaining three planned to be shipped before summer, the Norwegian Defense Material Agency said.
The latest fighter jets landed in the Nordic country on Feb. 27 and will operate out of Ørland Air Station.
In the last three months alone, nine F-35s have been delivered to Norway, with the last three of the 52 on order expected to be received during the spring, the FMA, the country’s Armed Forces procurement arm, said in a statement.
“Given the complexity inherent in the development and production of fifth-generation fighter aircraft, I am very impressed by the delivery capability of the F-35 manufacturer,” Col. Tord Aslaksen, head of Norway’s fighter aircraft department in defense material air capabilities, said of manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Issue experts have pondered the future of European F-35 fleets, given that the continent and Washington are at an important crossroads regarding the war in Ukraine and the fate of U.S. military support in NATO.
A recent report by the Washington-based Center for Policy and Analysis noted that while European F-35s provide nations with key airpower, they cannot solely make up for gaps in ground-based firepower and challenge the over-reliance on a single piece of equipment.
“Right now, European NATO lacks the integrated air and missile defense it needs for modern high-intensity warfare,” U.S. Maj. General (retired) Skip Davis, former NATO official, was quoted as saying in the report.
Estimates published by Lockheed Martin foresee that by 2035 more than 600 F-35s will be operating in Europe.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.
