On January 27, Lockheed Martin announced that construction of the first F-35A for the Royal Danish Air Force had begun, following the arrival of the first panels of the aircraft’s… Continue reading "Construction on First Danish F-35 Begins"
On January 31, the Polish Minister of Defence, Marius Blaszczak, signed a contract worth $4.6 billion for the purchase of 32 F-35A Lightning IIs for the Polish Air Force. The… Continue reading "Poland Signs F-35 Contract"
Lockheed Martin is to replace the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) that serves as the logistics backbone of the F-35 fleet with a new system, the Operational Data Integrated Network… Continue reading "Lockheed Martin to Replace F-35 ALIS With ODIN"
Lockheed Martin announced on 30 December, that it had delivered its 134th F-35 for the year, exceeding the original delivery goal of 131 aircraft. The 134th F-35 is an F-35B… Continue reading "Lockheed Martin Surpasses 2019 F-35 Delivery Goals"
On December 17, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) declared that its F-35A fleet had reached initial operating capacity. The declaration was made during a ceremony at Cheongju Air… Continue reading "South Korea Declares F-35 Initial Operating Capacity"
Seven Royal Australian Air Force F-35As landed at RAAF Williamtown on 11 December. Three of the F-35As were in No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit markings, with the remaining four being… Continue reading "RAAF Williamtown F-35 Capabilities Grow"
For the first time, an F-35A stealth fighter jet successfully requested support from an artillery unit belonging to the US Army’s 1st Armored Division. The request was for fire support… Continue reading "F-35A Crosses New Integration Milestone, Requests Ground Unit Support"
Lockheed’s Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) remains a bottleneck for the F-35 program, according to testimonies made to the House Armed Services readiness and tactical air and land forces subcommittees… Continue reading "ALIS Continues to Hold F-35 Program Back"
The Pentagon’s F-35 Program Executive, Lieutenant General Eric Fick, testified on the 13th November, in front of US Congress. In his testimony, he affirmed efforts to procure alternative suppliers to… Continue reading "F-35 Program Executive: Turkey Will Be Phased out by March 2020"
On 31 October, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) received its first Netherlands-based F-35A at Leeuwarden Air Base. The F-35A, tail number F-009, landed at 1530 local time after performing… Continue reading "Royal Netherlands Air Force Receives First Netherlands-Based F-35"