Defense officials from the Pentagon and Norway have signed a memorandum of understanding to proceed with the next phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program. The MOU covers production, sustainment, and follow-on development. A few days earlier, the Pentagon and Turkey signed a similar MOU. Late last year, the Pentagon reached agreements with Australia, Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands. Italy and Denmark are expected to sign the JSF PSFD MOU soon.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…