There are currently 17 countries participating in the F-35 programme, of which eight – the USA, UK, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark and Norway – are founding partners, having shared the cost of designing and producing the advanced jet.
Israel was the first country outside the United States to acquire the F-35. In May 2018 its air force chief said that Israel was the first to use the plane in combat. The F-35 is also known as the Joint Strike Fighter and in Israel by its Hebrew name “Adir” (Mighty).
“We hope for the opportunity to deliver additional F-35s beyond” the 72 Australia has on order, Executive Vice President of Aeronautics Greg Ulmer said on the sidelines of the Australia International Airshow.
With more than 890 F-35s delivered to date, there are more of these advanced fighters flying for nations around the world today than all other stealth aircraft on the planet... combined.
Israel's Ministry of Defence approved the purchase on Sunday, with the additional 25 aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin to bring the number of F-35 jets in Israel's air force to 75.
1 statement to Breaking Defense that a total of 30 F-35B aircraft have so far been delivered to the UK with a further seven due for delivery in 2023. The remaining 11 will follow in 2024 and 2025, according to the spokesperson.
"Congratulations to Germany on procuring the F-35A. Germany is the ninth foreign military sales country to join the program," said Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, F-35 Program Executive Officer.
Canberra has committed to buying 72 F-35A fighter jets for three operational squadrons. However, adding a fourth will bring the total number of aircraft to 96. Even though the F-35A has grown in popularity in Australia, some questions have also been raised about its viability.
Denmark has purchased a total of 27 F-35 combat aircraft, which during an implementation period will gradually take over the task complex for the F-16. There will be regular updates about the Americans' visit on the Defense website and via the Defense, Air Force and Fighter Wing Skrydstrup's social media.
The F-22 Raptor is the most powerful air superiority fighter in the world, while the F-35 is probably the most advanced multi-role fighter right now. That means that the Raptor is more effective in air-to-air combats (faster and could operate at higher altitude).
The GFP index denotes Australia as a Top 20 world power. For 2023, Australia is ranked 16 of 145 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. The nation holds a PwrIndx* score of 0.2567 (a score of 0.0000 is considered 'perfect').
The total cost of the program is expected to be 16.2 billion Australian dollars — nearly $11 billion — with 2.7 billion in contingency funds. Over said Lockheed Martin had delivered on its promise to reduce the per-aircraft price.
Current Active Inventory: 296 Aircraft. The following represents an overview of the modern aerial fighting capabilities of the Royal Australian Air Force (2023).
The aircraft has been ordered by program partner nations, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, and Australia, and also through the Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales program, including Japan, South Korea, and Israel. The units that operate or plan on operating the aircraft are listed below.
Although a U.S. contractor is responsible for building F-35 airframes, manufacturing of certain engine parts was outsourced to Honeywell, which sources materials from China. By creating layer after layer, the process becomes more opaque and problems like this become inevitable.
Performance Wins Out. Nonetheless, based on its performance in wargames and high-tech sensing and weaponry, the F-35 may simply be unparalleled. While an F-35 may not have the speed or thrust-to-weight ratio of an F-22, it has attributes as a multirole fighter, which would likely prove extremely difficult to replicate.
The U.S. Air Force is the largest F-35 Lightning II operator of all the international forces with a planned purchase of 1,763 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant aircraft.
Finland currently awaits the delivery of new F-35As to replace its fleet of 55 F/A-18 fighters. The first jets are set to arrive in 2026 with all 64 fifth-generation jets expected to land in Finland by 2030.
Norway's F-35 fleet operates out of Ørland Air Base. In addition, a Quick Reaction Alert base is being stood up at Evenes Air Base.
The RAAF has taken delivery of two more F-35A Lighting II aircraft, taking its current fleet to 50. No. 3 Squadron was responsible for the safe arrival of the aircraft into Australia in May following its ferry across the Pacific Ocean from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Training at Luke Air Force Base grew to encompass up to 10 Australian aircraft and continued until October 2020. Two Australian F-35A aircraft landed at RAAF Base Williamtown in December 2018 commencing the transition to an Australian-based operation.
The Sukhoi Su-35 (Russian: Сухой Су-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E) is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable air superiority fighters, designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and built by Sukhoi.
In France, there are fears that the purchase of the F-35 could jeopardize the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS, short for Future Combat Air System. The billion-dollar project is meant to develop a state-of-the-art European fighter by 2040 to replace the French Rafale and the German Eurofighter.