Lockheed supports Italian and Norwegian F-35s
Maintenance and sustainment operation support for Italian and Norwegian F-35 aircraft will continue to be provided by Lockheed Martin under a new $13.12 million contract modification from US Naval Air Systems Command.
Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida for completion by December 2022, the DoD announced on 7 January.
Norway purchased 52 F-35As through an FMS programme for $11.2 billion in 2008, with deliveries to the Royal Norwegian Air Force scheduled between 2015 and 2024.
Italy has ordered 90 F-35 aircraft (60 F-35As and 30 F-35Bs); however, as noted by Shephard Defence Insight, the programme has been dogged by political controversy. Deliveries have been postponed and payments missed.
Even so, the defence budgets for 2019 and 2020 contained significant funding for the F-35 programme, suggesting that the programme is still moving ahead.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
More from Air Warfare
-
Update: India’s Rafale-M deal postponed
New Delhi had been gearing up to sign a Navy Rafale deal as talks swirled around a potential assembly line in Nagpur.
-
Turkey’s Eurofighter process going to plan despite German block, says minister
The comment, made by Turkish defence minister Yasar Guler, also noted that the 40-strong sale of Eurofighter Typhoons was primarily managed by the UK, not Germany.
-
Airbus awaits USMC decision on Logistics Connector programme
Airbus has been advancing development of its uncrewed MQ-72C Logistics Connector for the US Marine Corps, with a decision on the programme expected in early 2026.
-
Belgium considers additional F-35 order to boost fleet
The statement from Prime Minister Bart De Wever during a parliamentary session follows the country’s Easter Agreement which would see it increase defence spending to 2% of GDP by the end of 2025.
-
Northrop Grumman notes $477 million loss as it manages higher B-21 programme costs
In its Q1 earnings call, the company disclosed a US$477 million pretax loss related to the programme as it works to scale up.
-
Lockheed Martin wants to “supercharge” F-35 after NGAD loss
The investment in technologies developed for Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) aircraft bid will now be applied to its F-35 and F-22 aircraft, according to Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet.