welcomed three Lightning IIs on November
3, 2017. Serials 5148, 5149 and 5150 were
formally accepted by Norway’s Defence
Materiel Agency during a ceremony on
November 10 and were assigned to 332 Sqn.
A second ight of three arrived on May 22,- The Norwegian government plans to
purchase up to 52 F-35As and, under current
plans, the aircraft will achieve IOC in 2021.
Norwegian and Dutch F-35s will have
structural provisions for a braking parachute,
designed to reduce landing roll on shorter or
icy runways. The system is housed in a pod
on the upper portion of the rear fuselage.
Flight testing began at Edwards AFB on May
30, 2017. Icy runway evaluation followed in
early 2018 at Eielson AFB, Alaska. Local use
of the system was rst demonstrated by serial
5149 at Ørland Air Base on February 16, - Norwegian jets will also be compatible
with the long-range, anti-ship Joint Strike
Missile (JSM), which is being developed
by Kongsberg and Raytheon. The missile
is designed for carriage both internally and
externally.
TURKEY
The rst Turkish Air Force F-35A ew at Fort
Worth on May 10, 2018 and serial number
18-0001 (c/n AT-01) was accepted on June 21.
A second F-35A ew on June 8 and both were
delivered to Luke AFB on June 26. Turkey’s
plans include 100 Lightning IIs with 30
delivered by 2022. Purchase of the initial pair
was authorised in 2014 and they were ordered
as part of Lot 10. Four are included in Lot 11
and the rst pair was scheduled for delivery
to Luke this November. However, citing a
strained relationship with the current Turkish
Government, the US Government has placed
severe restrictions on the delivery of the
aircraft to Turkey unless speci c stipulations
are met. Currently, the rst Lightning IIs are
still scheduled for delivery to the 7th Main
Jet Base at Malatya, beginning in November- The Turkish base is also scheduled to
host an integrated training centre conducting
pilot and maintenance training from 2020.
UNITED KINGDOM
Officially, the UK remains committed to the
acquisition of 138 F-35s, but recent reports
have indicated the possibility of a reduction in
that number. Carrying the serial ZM135 (c/n
BK-1), the UK’s rst F-35B ew at Fort Worthon April 13, 2012. Three examples continue to
support operational test and evaluation with
17 Sqn at Edwards AFB.
Training was initially carried out at Eglin
AFB, but in 2014, British personnel relocated
to MCAS Beaufort alongside VMFAT-501.
Training will transition to RAF Marham,
Norfolk, when 207 Sqn stands up as the
Lightning II Operational Conversion Unit
(OCU) on July 1, 2019. The F-35B (the UK’s
official name for the aircraft is Lightning
− dropping the II) will provide the strike
capability for the Royal Navy aircraft carriers
HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) and HMS
Prince of Wales (R09).
US Navy F-35B test aircraft BF-04 and
BF-05 from the VX-23/Integrated Test
Force (ITF) at NAS Patuxent River marked
a major milestone when they touched down
on the Queen Elizabeth for the rst time on
September 25. The arrival of the jets, which
were own by Royal Navy Commander
Nathan Gray and Royal Air Force Squadron
Leader Andy Edgell, marked the start of
First of Class Flight Trials (Fixed Wing)
[FOCFT(FW)] aboard the ship. The carrier
arrived at Naval Station Mayport, Florida,
in advance of the testing on September
5 and subsequently travelled to Norfolk,
Virginia. Conducted consecutively, the
initial two FOCFT (FW) phases will
demonstrate numerous ight manoeuvres
and deck operations that will support
development of the F-35B operating
envelopes with the ships. More than 200
test points will be evaluated during varied
weather and sea conditions.
A third FOCFT (FW) phase, scheduled
for September 2019, will be followed by
operational testing. Pilots from 617 Sqn
delivered four F-35Bs to their permanentmain operating base at RAF Marham
on June 6, 2018. Formally reactivated in
Washington DC on April 17, the squadron
received another group of ve jets on August- The ‘Dambusters’ should achieve IOC-Land
by December 2018 and IOC-Carrier Strike
will follow in 2020. The F-35B is scheduled
to reach FOC in 2023. The rst Royal Navy
Fleet Air Arm unit will stand up when 809
Naval Air Squadron is re-formed in 2023.
Each of the operational squadrons will
operate 12 Lightnings.
The UK F-35Bs are delivered in the
same con guration as the US Marine Corps
versions. However, they will be compatible
with additional weapons including the AIM-
132 Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile
(ASRAAM) and 500lb (227kg) dual-mode
Paveway IV precision-guided bomb. Testing
of both weapons is under way and an F-35B
from 17 Sqn ew its rst ASRAAM test
mission on August 30, 2018.
UNITED STATES
The total planned purchase of 2,457
Lightning IIs includes 1,763 USAF F-35As.
Additionally, the US Marine Corps will
acquire 353 F-35Bs and 67 F-35Cs, with the
US Navy receiving 260 F-35Cs.
Although SDD testing concluded in April,
operations at Edwards AFB continue. The
USAF’s 461st Flight Test Squadron and 31st
Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), Marine
air test and evaluation squadron VMX-1, the
US Navy’s air test and evaluation squadron
VX-9, the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s
323 Sqn (TACTES) and the RAF’s17 Sqn
support developmental and operational
testing with the three Lightning II variants.
The USAF will eld 960 combat-coded
F-35As with 44 squadrons at 31 operating
locations. The Primary Aircraft Authorization
(PAA) for Active Component (AC) and the
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
squadrons will be 24 aircraft while Air
National Guard (ANG) squadrons will receive
18 ghters. Nine active duty Marine Corps
squadrons will be equipped with 16 F-35Bs,
and ve will have ten F-35Bs assigned. Two
Marine Reserve squadrons will each have
ten F-35Bs and 50 aircraft will be evenly
divided between two eet replacement
squadrons (FRS). Four active duty
squadrons will be equipped, respectively,
with ten F-35Cs that will support US Navy
carrier air wing operations.36 Aviation News incorporating Jets December 2018
Six F-35As have been delivered to 332 Skv at Ørland with a view to reaching initial operating
capability in 2021. Lockheed MartinTwo Turkish F-35As have been delivered to Luke AFB this year, however, deliveries to Turkey are
subject to restrictions due to strained relations between the Trump and Erdogˇan governments.
Clinton White