Norway’s First Three F-35 Jets Have Just Landed At Orland Air Force Station

The first three 5th Generation stealth aircraft have arrived in Norway.

On Nov. 3, at about 15.57 local time, the first three F-35A jets (AM-8, AM-9 and AM-10) destined to the RNoAF (Royal Norwegian Air Force) and delivered directly to Norway have landed at Ørland Air Force Station, in central Norway.

Norway plans to procure up to 52 F-35A, at an estimated cost of about NOK 70 billion (+7.3B USD), including weapons and support, to replace its fleet of ageing F-16s, that will be replaced in 2021. The first two aircraft were delivered in 2015 followed by another two in 2016 and three more ones earlier in 2017, but these aircraft were based at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where they are used for Norwegian and partner country pilot training.

The landing of the three F-35 at their new homebase at Ørland Air Force Station marks the first direct delivery from Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility to Norway, where all the remaining planes will be delivered, at a rate of six new jets per year from 2018 onward.

The arrival will be officially celebrated on Nov. 10, 2017, on the day of the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s 73rd anniversary.

Top image credit: Lockheed Martin

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.