Forum: F-35 Lightning II

On second thought, the usual suspects would probably find cause to blame it for the melting icepack.. Very Happy

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Did not the requirement of the drag chute on the Viper have something with the short (800 meter's) airfields around Norway?
Is that requirement no longer there on the F-35?

But wouldn't the global warming caused by the -B actually remove the need for ice control measures in the first place?
Perhaps it would need floats instead of wheels by that time then, I guess there's no easy answer here while the love affair with tiny runways prevails.

They could use the B in hover mode to melt the ice on the runway and taxiways

popcorn wrote:

On second thought, the usual suspects would probably find cause to blame it for the melting icepack.. Very Happy

Norway is the second largest gas exporter and sixth largest oil exporter in the world so these issues are very much in the news, but I have not seen anything about the F-35 in this context.

What is in the news is the location of the base since the current location of two of our F-16 squadrons, Bodø, is so close to a lot of population forcing the Air Force to include the cost of a new runway due to the increased noise level of the F-35. So noise pollution is the key.

The "Bee" as a giant snow blower/ handwarmer, I never linked those together! Very Happy

These may get more cold climate invites out to our Corp buddies. Doh

The 338 squadron at Ørlandet air station uses brake chutes during winter ops just as the squadrons in Bodø. The climatic differences isn't much different. Also keep in mind that F-16 operations today also include other airfields i Northern Norway. So the question of braking chutes on the F-35 hasn't much to do with the choise of basing for the future F-35's in Norway.

There is a big debate about basing options here in Norway. To save money, and have a sustainable budget to work with, the defense chief has proposed to the Norwegian government that Ørlandet to be chosen as the primary air base for the F-35. The critics point to several disadvantages with this:

1. In a time of conflict our air force may be wiped out in a singe blow. The defense leadership counters by saying they would disperse it's aircraft in advance. Critics of this "doctrine"say such a step could be seen as an offensive move and thereby escalating the situation that wouldn't occur if the aircraft was in the area (Northern Norway) in the first place.
2. The aircraft is moved away from their primary operations area, and the F-35's combat radius from Ørland would no longer cover the main operations area up north. The Norwegian government has long held the view that the ever more contested Barents region, with its rich natural resources, are our of vital interest to our nation.

Personaly I would agree that Norway's national interest are not served by moving all our future fighter assets south to a singe base. My guess that the politicians will not like his proposal either, and will choose to stay with today's solution with fighter sqd in Bodø and Ørlandet both. Time will tell.

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Norway may no longer require drag chute