Norway’s department of defense has submitted a request to the Norwegian Parliament to participate in a proposed block buy of 12 new F-35As, according to F-35 joint program office spokesman Joe DellaVedova. The new purchases would be made in 2018-2020 and would bring Norway’s total number of F-35s purchased up to 40. Norway has said that it plans to purchase 52 F-35s overall. “Due to vast economies of scale, all countries will achieve significant reductions on the price of their jets,” said DellaVedova. The block buy, which would eventually be joined by the US and other nations, is expected to procure a total of 450 aircraft and produce an overall savings of close to $2 billion. The cost of an F-35 purchased within the block buy will be $80-85 million by 2019, DellaVedova said, in contrast to the $112 million paid in 2014. Norway received its first F-35 in September 2015, and Royal Norwegian Air Force pilots have trained on F-35s in a global training squadron under the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Ariz., since December of that year.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…