Australia next purchased eight ghters
with the Lot 10 order and the rst of those
ew at Fort Worth on December 1, 2017,
featuring Block 3F software. It was one of
three Australian jets delivered to Luke in
March 2018, where the Australian cadre
at the Arizona base embedded with the
56th FW’s 61st FS, and includes pilots
and maintenance personnel. Planned
procurement for the RAAF totals 72 aircraft
and future purchases will include eight
aircraft in Lot 11 and 15 in Lot 12.
Delivered in Block 3i con guration, the two
original F-35As received Block 3F structural,
hardware and software upgrades that were
carried out by the USAF’s Ogden Air Logistics
Complex at Hill AFB, Utah. Two Lot 10 F-35As
are scheduled to arrive at RAAF Base
Williamtown, New South Wales, for Australian-
speci c validation and veri cation testing this
month (December). The ghter is expected to
achieve IOC with 3 Sqn in December 2020,
with nal operating capability (FOC) in 2023.
Williamtown will eventually support two
operational squadrons and the operational
conversion unit (OCU). A third operational
squadron will be stationed at RAAF Base
Tindal, Northern Territory. Initial pilot training
will transition to Australia in mid-2020.BELGIUM
The Belgian Government formally
announced the selection of the F-35A for its
Air Combat Capability Programme (ACCaP)
on October 25 becoming the 12th nation to
choose the Lightning II. The US Department
of State gave its approval to the potential
F-35A sale in January 2018. Plans call for
the purchase of 34 ghters to replace the
Belgian Defence - Air Component’s 54 F-16s
in the 2023-2030 timeframe.CANADA
The Canadians have not committed to
purchasing the F-35, despite an investment
of more than $375m in the programme.
Although an intention to purchase 65 F-35As
was announced in 2010, the plan was shelved
for cost reasons in 2012. A new competition
to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s
(RCAF) eet of 76 CF-188s was revealed
under the Future Fighter Capability project in
December last year and the F-35A is one of
several aircraft under consideration.
In February 2018, the government
revealed its list of ve eligible suppliers and
ghters, are the Dassault Rafale, Saab JAS
39 Gripen, Euro ghter Typhoon, Boeing F/A-
18E/F and the F-35A. The nal request will
be released in spring 2019, with selection
by 2022 and the rst of 88 ghters being
delivered in 2025.DENMARK
The Danish defence ministry con rmed
plans to purchase 27 F-35As in June 2016
and will spend around $4.5bn on its ghter
replacement programme. Purchases were
scheduled to begin in 2018 with an initial
batch of two Lot 12 F-35As. However, at
the time of writing, no contracts had been
signed. The schedule is for them to be
delivered to Luke AFB in 2021 to supporttraining. From 2022, local operations will
be centred at Skrydstrup Air Base and the
F-35A will completely replace Denmark’s
eet of F-16s by 2025.ISRAEL
In service, F-35As are known by the Hebrew
name ‘Adir’, meaning ‘Mighty One’. As the rst
country to purchase F-35s through the FMS
process, Israel initially secured two F-35As
under Lot 8 in September 2010. Serial 901
(AS-1) was rolled out in Fort Worth on June
22, 2016 and rst ew on July 25.
Israel’s rst two F-35As were accepted in
late December 2016 and the ‘Adir’ achieved
IOC with 140 ‘Golden Eagle’ Sqn at Nevatim
on December 6, 2017 when nine aircraft were
in service. Little time was wasted in putting
the ghter to work and, on May 22, 2018,
the air force revealed F-35As were involved
in two strikes against unidenti ed targets,
believed to be in Syria. However, it remains
unclear whether the aircraft conductedhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 33
Israel was the rst country to order the
F-35 through the Foreign Military Sales
programme, purchasing two aircraft in
September 2010. Lockheed MartinThe UK has received 12 F-35Bs,
nine of which are at RAF Marham
while three remain with 17 Sqn at
Edwards AFB. Ministry of Defence