Norwegian Armed Forces' first F-35A reaches milestone

Fort Worth, Texas – The first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II for the Norwegian Armed Forces is standing with weight on wheels for the first time, a significant milestone for the jet as it moves down the production line at Lockheed Martin’s mile-long assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas. 

 

Norway’s first F-35A, known as AM-1, was lifted by an overhead crane on April 9, 2015, from an electronic mate and alignment station where its forward and rear fuselage sections were joined to the wing-center fuselage assembly. The aircraft will now travel to final assembly, where its control surfaces will be added, along with final systems and engine installation.

 

AM-1 is due to roll out of the factory later this year, alongside sister ship AM-2, and both aircraft will initially be based at Luke AFB, Arizona, as part of the U.S. Air Force’s F-35 training system currently being established. A third F-35 aircraft for Norway is also in its early stages of production and will roll out of the factory next year.