Norway to reduce F-35 order?

[krorvik]

The RNoAF seems to have figured out that it is important to balance some of the information that is available in the news. Very good to see the pilots are talking a bit about their "day in the office".

I'll make sure to post the followup here if lamoey hasn't already, I'm sure he's watching closely (*wave from Kjeller*).

[mor10]

I'll make sure to post the followup here if lamoey hasn't already, I'm sure he's watching closely (*wave from Kjeller*).

Thanks for the link Krorvik. Waving back from sunny Houston. I believe I have a few old work colleagues there. I did visit Kjeller once in 1982. Also visited FFI (the Norwegian version of DARPA) on the same day so I may be mixing memory, but my class was present when they turned power on the inertial platform for the penguin missile for the first time. Really cool experience.

[krorvik]

That's cool indeed, yes FFI is right behind the hill here - getting a bit cold here, but we have some afterburners still heating up the area when our F-16s visit AIM for maintenance.

Will disappear when the F-16's retire though, Kjeller airfield might be retired to. A bit sad, there's a very active small planes club here. Nice airshow every year. Would be nice to get a look at a real F-35 when they arrive back home in a couple of years

[popcorn]

If only the JPO/LM PR people compiled a record of each pilot's first impressions and recollections from their first F-35 ride. Suitably vetted of course. Would make for interesting reading.

[spazsinbad]

Perhaps a little off topic 'Norsk Order' but perhaps relevant to the PR aspect which Norway seems to be doing so well with HANCHE. I was really disappointed & annoyed by the less than brilliant 'Test Pilot Tuesday' short video series from LM PR.

What a wasted opportunity to have most of the short videos taken up with the beginning fluff and answers to questions that were less than satisfactory often. One day I may edit this series into one meaningful lot but don't wait...

Also the 'English speaking PR' seems to be very obscure - unlike HANCHE, which often is specific and I'll assume being cleared info for release. I can understand this requirement. What really disappoints me is that there is no journalist (other than the regular releases from that 'special source Ayton') that has meaningful narrative about the subject being written.

The best sources and now sadly no longer online was the NavAv aspect from the regular USN LSO Newsletters; whilst the VX-23 is pure gold but only once a year & lately has become less specific - I guess due to security concerns - & that is OK.

Mostly we get journalistic rubbish about how crap the F-35 is and will be with little evidence considering how many are flying and will be flying with various Naval Air Arms & Air Forces. SLDinfo used to try to explain but they seem to have given up and now publish drivel many times over 'shaping and shaping and shaping the coming of the F-35'. For Gorsake. AND Somebody stop them from making their text bob up and down on a web page with their slideshow photos.

END of RANT and back to our regular programming - the wonderful NorskWegians & whatever they do - much appreciated.

[magitsu]

Yes, this kind of stories would make it much easier to sell the program to the public in Denmark, Finland, Canada etc.

ATM it seems that only experts and industry are targeted. The general public only in air shows. Saab on the other hand is really active. Or their fanboys. There's Gripen for X facebook pages and blogs for just about every country. Clear twitter supremacy, but Rafale is doing well there too.

Politicians respond to the pressures from the general public. So it can't be left unchecked.

I think it would even come off as more plausible if the Canadian public heard about the F-35 from non-US sources.

Test pilot doing a Reddit AMA might not be a bad idea. The other fighters would need that kind of exposure even more.

Old SLDinfo is indeed a treasure chest.

[krorvik]

In Norwegian press, it's quite easy to see which sources are fairly balanced and which are not - one of he major newspaper simply ignores the positive pieces on the F-35 (dagbladet). The other major sources actually seem to have gotten the point now.

As for the public tender process here in Norway, it seems to have been doing it's job just fine. Yes, there was a lot of bad press for a while, allegations, slander, the whole works, including "the govt skewed the process on purpose so we can cuddle up to big brother US of A".

Turns out, noone challenged the result in a way that matters (press only gets you so far...). You know, with that much money involved, if there WAS foul play, you'd think someone found a reason somewhere to take it to court. Not a SOUND.

[magitsu]

Perhaps a little off topic 'Norsk Order' but perhaps relevant to the PR aspect which Norway seems to be doing so well with HANCHE.

Here the Norsk fighter ace masterfully slays in his own words the earlier F-16 v. F-35 dogfight brouhaha. Actually it's a masterclass in the methodical approach to a dogfight, worthy of a post (thread?) of its own.
http://blogg.regjeringen.no/kampfly/201 ... t-og-f-35/ (translation at the bottom)

Far and away the best account.

[spazsinbad]

'lamoey' posted the entire English version of the 'dogfightin' Hanche' here on 03 Jul this year:

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=27497&p=294354&hilit=Hanche#p294354

[krorvik]

A couple of updates today from the official blog and twitter:

http://blogg.regjeringen.no/kampfly/201 ... lya-ut-no/



AM-3 and AM-4 moving through assembly. The graphic below shows delivery schedule:


Left legend: "Parliament" - "Order" - "Contract" - "Delivery" - "Operational"

FOC scheduled for 2025, when all aircraft are delivered.

Another interesting item from twitter:

https://twitter.com/FluffyNorwhale/stat ... 9680246788

So, AIM-9X is ordered for Norway at least - and 120C7 will be kept. And of course, APEX and JSM.

[cosmicdwarf]

http://www.reuters.com/article/lockkhee ... HO20151211

Norway authorizes purchase of 6 more Lockheed F-35 fighter jets

Dec 11 Norway has approved a defense budget that authorizes the purchase of six additional Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets for delivery in 2020, Endre Lunde, a spokesman for Norway's F-35 program, said on Friday.

The purchase will bring the total number of jets authorized by Norway to 28, Lunde said.

[krorvik]

This is according to the plan shown above.

[krorvik]

First flight for Maj. Hanche in a Norwegian F-35:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1045561745466790

[spazsinbad]

Speculation - I can do that all day - every day.... to what end?

Oil price, weak currency challenge Norwegian F-35 buy
21 Jan 2016 Beth Stevenson

"The low price of oil and a weak currency have led to speculation Norway is questioning its purchase of the costly Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the first example of which was handed over to Oslo in September 2015.

A 52-aircraft requirement for the type, to replace the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s 56 Lockheed F-16A/Bs was seemingly a done deal for Norway last October, as defence chief Adm Haakon Bruun-Hanssen revealed a strategic defence review that committed to the full acquisition. This was followed by a proposed 9.8% real-term defence budget increase for 2016, which would see a near doubling of funding for the conventional take-off and landing F-35A, plus an authorisation request for six more.

But local news sources are now claiming the continued low selling price of oil – a significant income for Norway – has laid pressure on spending, and a weak Krone versus the US dollar has made the price of the already expensive aircraft seem even higher.

The current exchange rate is only $0.15 to every NKr1. Lockheed says the cost of the aircraft is being driven down, with an F-35A purchased in 2018 – that today costs $98 million – and delivered in 2020 costing $85 million, which is the equivalent of $75 million today. This is excluding the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, which for the Lot 8 buy of the type costs $22 million each, according to figures revealed this month. ????

The F-35 aircraft acquisition, alongside associated infrastructure – namely the development of its new base at Ørland Main Air Station – was offered an allocation of NKr8.6 billion ($1.05 billion) in the proposed 2016 budget, from the total NKr49 billion (a rise of NKr4.29 billion from 2015 in real terms)...."

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... bu-421084/

[krorvik]

This has also been commented properly by the norwegian program office:

https://translate.google.com/translate? ... edit-text=

( https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/fors ... id2469411/ )