Several times a year, business managers within the Norwegian defense ministry are crunching the numbers regarding acquisition and support of the F-35.
Basing their figures on the U.S. Presidential Budget and those from the F-35 Joint Program Office, the Norwegian government currently expects their future F-35 fleet to cost up to 20% more to operate than its current F-16 fleet, but that issue does not seem to generate concern here in Oslo.
The program might be Norway’s largest and most expensive defense project to date, but officials say the new capabilities the F-35 will bring, such as enabling the country’s air arm to carry out long-range strikes, make it a price worth paying. Since 2008, they note, the cost to Norway has increased by just 8% and currently stands around 248 billion krone ($38 billion) for the 56-year lifetime of the program as of January this year.
“Smaller forces require more modern equipment,” says Lt. Col. Sigurd Fongen of the Norwegian F-35 Program Office speaking at last month’s Joint Strike Fighter executive steering board meetings here. “Look at recent conflicts, the warning times are shorter, there is not much time to train or mobilize, these are ‘come as you are’ conflicts [and] we need to be able to counter that.”
Norway has been a relative newcomer for the F-35, selecting the aircraft in late 2008 to replace its fleet of Fokker-built F-16 Fighting Falcons. However, it is projected to rapidly become one of Europe’s largest operators. With plans to acquire 52 F-35As, Oslo has already approved the purchase of 16 aircraft, and this is likely to increase when the government budget is cleared in spring 2015. The country has accelerated its F-35 purchase as its 56 remaining F‑16s show their age. Norway’s initial aircraft are on the production line in Fort Worth; the first is scheduled to be delivered in late 2015. Two more are due to arrive in 2016, followed by six every year until 2024.
Initial operating capability (IOC) is expected in 2019 and full operational capability by around 2024. The IOC is defined as having a fleet able to take on Norway’s national defense missions. For several years, the country’s remaining F-16s will operate alongside the F-35, but will be rapidly downsized in 2019‑20. The government wants to ensure against capability gaps, a process that will have to be managed carefully.
The Norwegian government has opted to position its F-35 fleet at a single location—Orland air base—near the coastal city Trondheim. Oslo is spending $96 million on new facilities for the aircraft, construction of which is due to begin during 2015. The F-35 force will comprise two large front-line squadrons, compared to three currently flying the F-16, split between the Orland and Bodo air bases.
New facilities will include eight full-mission simulators so pilots will be able to virtually train in tandem with colleagues who are flying the actual aircraft. The Royal Norwegian Air Force hopes to conducts 40% of its training synthetically compared to 20% on the F-16 currently. The airfield itself will receive tighter security; the installation of new fences and earth berms are just two of the measures that will be taken to meet U.S. security requirements.
Four of Norway’s aircraft will remain in the U.S. to support pilot training; three more will be stationed at Evenes, near Narvik in the far north. There they will serve as NATO’s quick-reaction alert to intercept unidentified, often Russian, aircraft flying close to Norwegian airspace.
Further investments may also be needed in terms of weaponry. A large portion of the program will be devoted to the introduction of the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile (JSM) (see page 23), which will give Norway its first taste of a strategic stand-off capability. The country had hoped it could repurpose many of the weapons it uses on the F-16, but the IRIS-T—Norway’s primary short-range air-to-air weapon—is not slated for integration onto the F-35, prompting Oslo to look at the AIM-9X Sidewinder. Officials are also considering the MBDA Meteor.
The search for potential partnerships with other JSF operators in Europe has already begun. Significant discussions have taken place with the U.K.; a preliminary pact was signed in March. At the center of this is the need for weapons training, says Col. Charles Svensson, program manager for operations in the Norwegian F-35 program office.
Norway works with other operators of the F-16 in Europe on the Fighter Weapons Instructor Training program, while the U.K. has its own Combined Qualified Weapons Instructor Course program. “We are discussing the similarities between these two exercises and discussing cooperation on maintenance training,” Svensson says.
Perhaps the most significant change required by the Norwegians is the addition of a brake parachute to handle the enhanced braking capability needed during their harsh winters. The modification requires changes in the construction of the rear fuselage section to create a compartment to hold the parachute system. On top of this is a large canoe fairing, which will open on landing. Despite its large size, the fairing—designed to minimize any impact on the radar cross-section—is fitted between the two vertical tails.
The addition of the brake chute also requires cockpit modifications to deploy it on landing. Svensson says that when the brake chute is not needed the fairing could be removed and the compartment for the chute could potentially be used for other systems. Canadian company Airborne Systems is developing the braking parachute.
Norway is covering the cost of developing the system for the F-35A. Under a contract announced on Sept. 30, Norway will pay as much as $246.6 million to develop and test the installation. The cost includes some modifications to the airframe around the brake-chute pod. These will be incorporated as an in-line retrofit to early aircraft—starting with the first two Norwegian production aircraft and included in later aircraft from the start of manufacture. Norway will also receive a royalty on any F-35s sold to other air forces with the parachute installed; Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands are leading candidates. 
—With Bill Sweetman in Washington.