Further delays in the purchase of the F-35 fighter jet could result in Norway having no operating fighting jets at all, warns State Secretary Roger Ingebrigtsen.
“The timeline we currently have is getting critical. If we push it even further, we risk that the country ends up with absolutely no fighter jet capacity whatsoever, Ingebrigtsen tells Aftenposten.
There have been many challenges involved in the acquisition of the fighter jet F-35, which will replace Norway’s aging fleet of F-16. This fall, the U.S. will decide how many jets they plan to buy. They are the biggest client of the F-35 program, but due the financial crisis in the U.S. the number of predicted purchases may have to be drastically reduced. That would in turn affect the price of the jets, and the number of F-35s that Norway can afford.
It was already decided last winter to push back the purchase to a time when more planes were being built. Parliament concluded 2018 would be the year for the main purchase, which would make the first F-35s operational around 2020.
According to Ingebrigtsen, there is no more room in the schedule to hold off. “We have already stretched the life-span for the F-16. Now I am experiencing that we are right on the edge,” Ingebrigtsen explains.
As of today, Norway has 57 F-16 fighter jets. It is unknown and confidential how many jets are actually in use, but t is estimated to be less than half. In 2020 most of the oldest F-16 jets will have passed 40 years, which is way beyond their desired retirement age.
In spite of other countries putting their purchases off for now, Ingebrigtsen thinks that another delay could make matters even worse. “There are concerns related to how many jets that will be ordered each year ahead, and how many jets the U.S. will buy,” he explains. “No one is feeling one hundred percent safe.”
The State Secretary explains that we have to get as close as possible to the point when it is most reasonable to buy, without putting ourselves in a situation where we have no fighter jet capacity. “We can’t sit here and pretend that we won’t have a problem after 2020,” he concludes.
(Aftenposten)
Julie Ryland
