Norway to reduce F-35 order?

[spazsinbad]

Certainly other governments could learn a lot from the way the Norwegian Government explains the complexity or non-complexity of their purchase of the F-35. PDF attached is the English translation as indicated above. BZ Norske.

[spazsinbad]

The Guard at NATO’s Northern Gate
With a new force of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, Norway readies for Europe’s next threat.
Sep 2016 Carl A. Posey | Air & Space Magazine

"...It’s fair to ask how the newer F-35 fares in a scramble. Experts at the Joint Air Power Competence Centre, a NATO “Centre of Excellence” with representatives from 15 member nations, say it’s too soon to tell. The Lightning II has only recently been deemed “Initial Operationally Capable.” But they pointed out that many factors beyond the mechanical abilities of the aircraft play into scramble speed, including the training and experience of the ground crew....

...Lieutenant Colonel Baard Bakke is head of the RNoAF Jet Fighter Project, which has overseen the selection of the Joint Strike Fighter and its complex integration into the Norwegian armed forces. The 46-year-old F-16 pilot has been based at the F-35 Joint Program Office in Arlington, Virginia. The decision to go with the F-35, he says, “was based on capabilities and price…and being in a big partnership.” After looking at performance—at the airplane’s ability to conduct a wide variety of missions in a high-threat environment—the project had no doubt about the selection.

Norway has said it intends to buy 52 F-35As, the type flown by the U.S. Air Force. So far it has purchased 22, with deliveries to begin next year. Bakke believes the country will opt for the full 52....

...By the time all the F-35s are in place, the RNoAF will be a much different armed force. In August 2015, a force reorganization moved most of the 132 Air Wing to Ørland. As the F-16s are phased out, the airport will continue as a civilian hub, but the air station, where so much of Norway’s aeronautical history can be read, will itself become history.

A pair of combat F-35s will stand a Quick Reaction Alert at Eveness, a forward base well to the north. The remaining F-35 fleet will operate from Ørland, which is currently being churned into a major construction site. A large squadron building there will integrate training and simulators. “Everything will happen in one location,” Bakke says. “All the first-level maintenance. We’re building hangars, shelters, a good base to operate from.”..."

Source: http://www.airspacemag.com/military-avi ... 180960362/

[SpudmanWP]

Norway Wants 12 More F-35s, Plans Block Buy In 2019

The Norwegian government has requested authorization to buy 12 additional Lockheed Martin F-35s in its 2017 national budget, allowing the country to participate in the last two years of a proposed international block buy....

Under the budget proposal, rolled out Oct. 6, Norway wants to order six more F-35s in Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) lot 13 and another six in LRIP 14, Norwegian ministry of defense spokesman Endre Lunde told Aviation Week. If OK’d, this would bring Norway’s number of approved F-35s to 40.

The blueprint would allow Norway to participate in the second and third years of a proposed international block buy, beginning in 2019 and covering lots 13 and 14....

Overall, Norway has committed to buying up to 52 F-35 fighter jets over the next decade. The country is currently using its first four F-35As for pilot training at Luke AFB, Arizona, and is slated to receive six additional jets next year. Three of those aircraft will make the trans-Atlantic journey to Norway at the end of next year, touching down in their home country for the first time.
The additional aircraft proposed for lots 13 and 14 would be delivered in 2021 and 2022.

http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/nor ... k-buy-2019

[endre]

Certainly other governments could learn a lot from the way the Norwegian Government explains the complexity or non-complexity of their purchase of the F-35. PDF attached is the English translation as indicated above. BZ Norske.

Just noticed this one - thanks for that

Btw if you enjoyed that one, you might find this one interesting as well, though I fear you will have to resort to Google Translate. The article describes the process we go through to authorise, order, and then pay for each production series of the F-35. The background for the article is that we have had several here in Norway who have suggested that it is possible to free up significant funds for the Army in the short term by postponing or reducing our next orders for the F-35. This is intended to explain why that isn't possible: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/fors ... id2514952/

[spazsinbad]

Thanks - English Translation: https://translate.google.com.au/transla ... edit-text=

[XanderCrews]

Great news....

Hey where is the OP?

[mor10]

Certainly other governments could learn a lot from the way the Norwegian Government explains the complexity or non-complexity of their purchase of the F-35. PDF attached is the English translation as indicated above. BZ Norske.

Just noticed this one - thanks for that

Btw if you enjoyed that one, you might find this one interesting as well, though I fear you will have to resort to Google Translate. The article describes the process we go through to authorise, order, and then pay for each production series of the F-35. The background for the article is that we have had several here in Norway who have suggested that it is possible to free up significant funds for the Army in the short term by postponing or reducing our next orders for the F-35. This is intended to explain why that isn't possible: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/fors ... id2514952/

Great news!.

Endre, are there any images yet of Norway's fifth F-35, showing the drag chute or its hump on the back of the aircraft?

[endre]

Not yet, though the first aircraft to carry the "dog house", as we call it, will likely be one of the test jets at Edwards early next year.

[spazsinbad]

Norway Officially Wants In On F-35 International Block Buy
11 Oct 2016 Lara Seligman

"Norway has become the first of the F-35 international partner nations to make public its intent to participate in a proposed multiyear, multinational “block buy,” unveiling a budget request for 2017 that includes an additional 12 of the Lockheed Martin fighter jets over the next few years. The government, in its 2017 budget proposal rolled out Oct. 6, requested authorization to order 12 more F-35s in 2019 and 2020, including six in Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) lot 13 ..."

Source: http://aviationweek.com/combat-aircraft ... -block-buy

[neptune]

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... uy-430271/

Norway AF requests 12 F-35As in proposed block buy

12 October, 2016
BY: Stephen Trimble Washington DC

Norway would buy 12 more Lockheed Martin F-35As for delivery in 2021 and 2022 under a new spending plan submitted to Parliament. The proposal, if approved, would raise the total number of authorized F-35A purchases to 40 aircraft, or only 12 short of the Norwegian air force’s requirement. The requested authorization also would allow Norway to participate in a proposed “block buy” for the F-35’s US and international partners. The F-35 Joint Program Office is working to package purchases of hundreds of F-35s spread over two or three years from 2018 to 2020 into a single order commitment.

In the process, the JPO has to tap dance around US government policies that prohibit a “multi-year procurement” until after a weapons program completes initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E). The F-35 is not scheduled to complete IOT&E until at least 2018. Unlike a multi-year procurement, a block buy does not lock the US or international partners into firm orders, but it gives Lockheed’s supply chain a long-term view of likely demand.

The JPO hopes to translate that long-term commitment into $2 billion in cost savings over the three-year term.
Norway is the first F-35 customer to request authorization to enter a block buy.

[Corsair1963]

Honestly, the F-35 will be produced over the next few decades. So, stating any country will only get "X" or "Y" is well laughable. Most customers will eventually get more than originally planned....


If, you want a good example of this. Then check out the initial planned orders for the F-16. Then the total numbers they actually received.....

[jessmo111]

[quote="neptune"]https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/norway-af-requests-12-f-35as-in-proposed-block-buy-430271/

Norway AF requests 12 F-35As in proposed block buy

12 October, 2016
BY: Stephen Trimble Washington DC

Norway would buy 12 more Lockheed Martin F-35As for delivery in 2021 and 2022 under a new spending plan submitted to Parliament. The proposal, if approved, would raise the total number of authorized F-35A purchases to 40 aircraft, or only 12 short of the Norwegian air force’s requirement. The requested authorization also would allow Norway to participate in a proposed “block buy” for the F-35’s US and international partners. The F-35 Joint Program Office is working to package purchases of hundreds of F-35s spread over two or three years from 2018 to 2020 into a single order commitment.

In the process, the JPO has to tap dance around US government policies that prohibit a “multi-year procurement” until after a weapons program completes initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E). The F-35 is not scheduled to complete IOT&E until at least 2018. Unlike a multi-year procurement, a block buy does not lock the US or international partners into firm orders, but it gives Lockheed’s supply chain a long-term view of likely demand.

The JPO hopes to translate that long-term commitment into $2 billion in cost savings over the three-year term.
Norway is the first F-35 customer to request authorization to enter a block buy.

[/quote

Wouldn't it be foolish, for the USAF Not to participate in the block buy? If enough partners get on board, and we will save money, only a fool would not buy in bulk...... ( eyes Sen McCain) O-O.. Your Going to buy he planes if you block buy or don't! why not save the money?... I cant talk politics ATM! Im soo don't with Washington.!

[spazsinbad]

Get some pure oxygen under pressure - youse hyperventilators will need it! US $85 million middle of BLOCK BUY - get out!

Norway May Become First Country with F-35 Block Buy
14 Oct 2016 Brendan McGarry

"Norway’s defense department has asked its parliament to approve funding to purchase a dozen F-35A Joint Strike Fighter jets under a so-called block buy.

As part of its budget request for 2017, the Norwegian military asked for funding to purchase 12 more of the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made stealth fifth-generation fighters beginning in 2019. The government — whose first four F-35s are currently at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona — plans to buy a total of 52 of the aircraft.

If the request for a bulk order is authorized, Norway would become the first F-35 customer to enter into such a contracting arrangement....

...Joe DellaVedova, a spokesman for the F-35 program office, said Norway’s announcement “was expected” and that other allies involved in the acquisition program are considering the contract as part of a plan to buy roughly 450 planes during a three-year period ending in 2020.

“Due to vast economies of scale, all countries will achieve significant reductions on the price of their jets,” he said in a statement to Military.com. “The $80-85 million number often referenced for the cost of an F-35A in 2019 — is right in the middle of the expected block buy.”..."

Source: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2016/10/14/norwa ... block-buy/

[endre]

For those interested - the new Long Term Defense Plan passed Parliament yesterday - F-35 purchase continues as before, full steam ahead!

[spazsinbad]

Norway Boosts Defense Budget to Protect Key Programs
17 Nov 2016 Gerard O’Dwyer

"The Norwegian government’s decision to add an additional $230 million to its defense budget for 2017 will secure spending in the Norwegian Defense Forces’s (NDF) Long Term Defense Plan while critically protecting the military's modernization and procurement programs.

The increase will lift the level of Norway’s overall defense budget in 2017 to more than $6 billion. Of this amount, procurement will account for $1.5 billion while infrastructure will consume $370 million....

...The NDF’s acquisition of a new F-35-based fighter fleet will remain a high-priority area of budgetary spending going forward. The MoD is in the process of securing authorization from the national legislature, the Storting, to order a further 12 F-35 combat aircraft out of the planned total of 52 units to be bought.

If approved, the purchase plan would bring the total number of aircraft authorized to 40, enabling Norway to participate in the proposed multinational block-buy initiative...."

Source: http://www.defensenews.com/articles/nor ... y-programs