Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
Two milestones at Luke AFB for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The first two Norwegian F-35s arrived at Luke from the Lockheed Plant in TX to begin being used for training. On the same day, the first Norwegian F-35 student pilot at Luke flew his initial mission in the seat of a jet. Both events took place on Nov 10th, the Norwegian Air Force’s birthday. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Unit cost: F-35A: US$77.9M (lot 14); F-35B: US$101.3M (lot 14); F-35C: US$94.4M (lot 14) Number built: 535+ as of July 2020 Developed from: Lockheed Martin X-35 First flight: 15 December 2006; 13 years ago (F-35A) Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Produced: 2006–present Status: In service