The F-35 Fighter Jet: Norway Wants 6 More

Norway wants six more of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet.

The Scandinavian nation had already ordered six of the jets this year, but it wants six more. If approved by the Norwegian Parliament, the deal would be worth 7.38 billion kroner, roughly $1.23 billion.

The Norwegian government announced its intentions to procure 52 of the F-35 fighter jets in 2008 for a $64 billion price tag. Norway had already purchased four F-35 fighters in 2011. The fighter jets would be delivered by 2018 with the six already approved.

Monday’s proposal came as part of the outgoing parliament’s 2014 budget. The current government is stepping down after losing last month’s parliamentary elections with the Conservative Party’s Erna Solberg defeat of the Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

According to reports, leaders of the incoming government intend to continue with the procurement of the 52 F-35 fighters.

That’s good news for Lockheed-Martin, which, along with the Pentagon, recently chose Rockwell Collins and Israel’s Elbit Systems to manufacture helmets for the F-35 fighter. Previously, they had been produced by subcontractor BAE Systems, but ending the BAE work on the helmet program would save the Joint Strike Fighter Program $47 million, according to Lockheed spokeswoman Laura Siebert.

The F-35 fighter jet is described as “a 5th Generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility.” Three variants of the F-35 are set to replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, and the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, according to Lockheed-Martin’s F-35 Web site.