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F-35 during a test flight. Photo: Kaszynzki, Lockheed Martin.
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52 new fighter jets are to be delivered by 2025, the largest ever
military acquisition in Norway.
October 31, 2017
The three first of the multi-role aircraft will land at Ørland Air
Force Station in central Norway on November 2nd. A week later, on the day of
the Royal Norway Air Force’s 73rd anniversary, the arrival will officially be
celebrated.
F-35 will replace Norway’s current fleet of F-16 fighter jets. With
the new planes, the Armed Forces significantly strengthens its strategic
capability, not only with more aircrafts than today’s fleet, but firstly
because the F-35 has better weapons, sensors and survivability.
«This helps ensure that Norway is able to present any future
opponent with a credible threshold against military aggression or coercion,»
the Defense Ministry says in a statement.
With the arrival of F-35, the military moves the main base from
Bodø north of the Arctic Circle to Ørland Air Force Station northwest of
Trondheim, more than 400 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.
In the north, Evenes airport near Narvik will serve as a forward
operating base to offer Quick Reaction Alerts for Norway’s Arctic airspace.
Since 2007, Norwegian fighter jets have frequently been scrambled by NATO to
identify Russian strategic bombers flying out in international airspace via the
Barents Sea and further south outside the coast of northern Norway.
The 52 F-35 fighter jets made by American Locheed Martin are
estimated to cost Norway 70 billion kroner (€7,37 billion). That includes
weapons and support equipment.
Original post: thebarentsobserver.com
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