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Norway to continue with JSF program
January 22, 2007 (by
Lieven Dewitte) -
Norwegian defence minister Anne-Grethe Strøm-Erichsen will shortly sign the production agreement with Lockheed Martin.
Norway has held back signing while negotiating a better deal for Norwegian industries participation in the big fighter program. This has now succeeded, thinks the defence minister.
"We now think that the plans for industrial cooperation are a lot more concrete and have, after a large scale evaluation, decided to continue into the production phase," said the defence minister in a press release.
This does not mean that Norway has chosen an aircraft type. The Ministry of Defence has already started negotiations with the producers of both the Eurofighter and the Swedish SAAB, manufacturer of the Gripen.
The govement decided in December to go forward with three fighter candidates to ensure that competition between the manufacturers are kept up and that Norway gets the best possible options militarily, industrially as well as financially in the light of a final selection.
The plan is to acquire 48 fighter airplanes. Those will replace the existing 57 F-16 aircraft which are to be retired from around 2014. The price is not yet determined but indications are that the amount will be in the area of NoK 40 Billions (USD 6.2 Billions).
The Norwegian parliament will debate the fighter purchase in 2008, but in reality the decision will be made much earlier. Norway has so far paid about NoK 500 Millions (USD 77.5 Million) for the development of the JSF, officially named F-35 Lightning II. Norway also had an industrial agreement with Eurofighter, while SAAB came in to the competition since about a year ago.
"We now think that the plans for industrial cooperation are a lot more concrete and have, after a large scale evaluation, decided to continue into the production phase," said the defence minister in a press release.
This does not mean that Norway has chosen an aircraft type. The Ministry of Defence has already started negotiations with the producers of both the Eurofighter and the Swedish SAAB, manufacturer of the Gripen.
The govement decided in December to go forward with three fighter candidates to ensure that competition between the manufacturers are kept up and that Norway gets the best possible options militarily, industrially as well as financially in the light of a final selection.
The plan is to acquire 48 fighter airplanes. Those will replace the existing 57 F-16 aircraft which are to be retired from around 2014. The price is not yet determined but indications are that the amount will be in the area of NoK 40 Billions (USD 6.2 Billions).
The Norwegian parliament will debate the fighter purchase in 2008, but in reality the decision will be made much earlier. Norway has so far paid about NoK 500 Millions (USD 77.5 Million) for the development of the JSF, officially named F-35 Lightning II. Norway also had an industrial agreement with Eurofighter, while SAAB came in to the competition since about a year ago.
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- Gripen N in the race for Future Fighter Replacement in Norway ( 2006-12-22)
- Turkey signs production phase MoU for the F-35 ( 2006-12-15)
- Confusion on Norway's possible purchase of F-35 fighter jets ( 2006-06-16)
- Norway continues JSF co-operation ( 2006-05-08)
- Norway may rethink its F-35 plans ( 2004-12-22)
- F-35 Lightning II news archive
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