– During the Space Christmas, Norway passed over Norwegian F-35s, and no conditions have been found to indicate that the Norwegian aircraft are covered by the same challenge, says Lieutenant Colonel in the Ministry of Defense Stine Barclay Gaasland. On 15 December, an F-35 fighter jet tipped over so that the pilot had to eject during landing at the Fort Worth air base in Texas in the USA. A film posted on Twitter shows how the plane attempts to land vertically, and that the plane bounces forward and spins around during landing. The accident occurred during a test flight. Aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin has now temporarily stopped all test flights and thus also deliveries, the company writes in a press release on 30 December. Gaasland says it is a sign of security that deliveries have been temporarily stopped. – It is a strength that the international F-35 program undertakes such thorough and transparent follow-up when such accidents occur, so that they can investigate whether there may be consequences for more aircraft, Gaasland tells news. Norway is to buy a total of 52 such fighters from the American factory Lockheed Martin. Photo: Helge Hopen / Defense Forces Already delayed from before So far, the Norwegian Defense Forces have received 37 fighter aircraft out of a total order of 52. Norway receives six aircraft a year from Lockheed Martin. – It is currently too early to say anything about whether the temporary halt in deliveries of new aircraft will affect Norwegian deliveries in 2023, but Norway is following the matter closely through the F-35 programme, says Gaasland. Tweet from Lockheed Martin shortly after the incident. Photo: Screenshot from twitter The plan was for three fighters to arrive in December, but they have already been delayed. According to Teknisk Ukeblad, it is planned that these will arrive at the combat aircraft base on Ørland in January instead, so that Norway will receive nine aircraft this year. – We are planning to receive three new planes at Ørland at the end of January. As of now, we have no information that indicates that it will be postponed, says Lieutenant Colonel and Chief of Communications for the Air Force, Eivind Byre to news. Germany with order for F-35 The crash with the plane in Texas happened the day after it became known that Germany has made an agreement to obtain 35 F-35. – Germany’s participation ensures that the F-35’s European alliance continues to strengthen and grow through operations with NATO and allied nations, said Vice President of Lockheed Martin and manager of the F-35 program, Bridget Lauderdale, after the agreement was concluded. Switzerland, Belgium, Finland and Poland are also new buyers of the F-35. By 2030, it is expected that over 550 F-35s will cooperate from more than ten different European countries. They do this together with two large American F-35 squadrons at Lakenheath in the USA. The US Ministry of Defense is also setting aside NOK 300 billion to buy almost 400 aircraft from Lockheed Martin, writes Finansavisen. Ten of the Norwegian aircraft are stationed in the USA to train and educate new F-35 pilots. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Norwegian pilots are today trained at American air bases before they travel back to Norway to fly. Not the same variety as the tipped F-35 comes in several variants; F-35A, F-35B, F-35C and F-35I. The aircraft that tipped over in Texas was of the F-35B type and is a STOVL version (short takeoff/vertical landing), which means that the combat aircraft can land vertically. Norway has aircraft of the type F-35 A. The American news company “Stars and stripes” writes that there have been several accidents with the F-35 in recent years. They refer, among other things, to an F-35 A crashing at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and to an F-35C ending up in the China Sea in January. The pilots were evacuated in both cases. This photo was taken in 2018 on Ørland during a visit from the head of the US F-35 program Vice Admiral Mathias W. Winter. On the left, Major General and Commander of the Air Force Tonje Skinnarland. On the right, Major General and program director of the combat aircraft program in the Ministry of Defense Morten Klever. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news The F-35 operates from 26 bases worldwide, and there are more than 876 of this type of aircraft in service, according to Lockheed Martin. Altogether there are 1,870 pilots for the fighter in total in the world. The plane that crashed in Texas had not been handed over to the customer. The matter is being investigated. It is not known when deliveries will start again. – There is no drama in such a procedure – it is rather a good example of proper management of personnel and material by eliminating potential risks to avoid the same accident repeating itself, says Gaasland.
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F-35 trouble in the USA – uncertain whether Norway will be delivered aircraft as agreed this year – news Trøndelag
