Norway has announced that it will participate in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) production phase. That nation's Forsvards departmentet has issued a release saying that defense minister, Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen has decided to sign the production phase agreement for the Joint Strike Fighter Program. On the other hand, the release also pointed out that Norway plans to sign agreements with the Gripen and Eurofighter teams, as well.

The JSF program is a major, multinational endeavor that will develop a multirole strike fighter that will have three variants: the F-35A, a conventional version for the U.S. Air Force and others; the F-35B, which is a short take-off, vertical landing version for the U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Navy; and the F-35C, which is a conventional carrier-launched version for the U.S. Navy.

The F-35 aircraft is named after Lockheed's famous WW2 P-38 Lightning and the Mach 2, stacked-engine English Electric (now BAE) Lightning jet. At this point, the JSF program is engaged in identifying who will be involved in the production phase. Partners in the program at this time include the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey. It is expected that initial purchase commitments will begin in the 2008-2009 time frame.

The JSF will clearly excel in reconnaissance and electronic eavesdropping. It will carry phased array active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, passive electromagnetic antennas and sensors embedded throughout its airframe — as well as powerful onboard computer processing and secure high-bandwidth communications that in the past was only to be found in dedicated electronic attack aircraft. The F-35's AN/APG-81 AESA radar will probably also be able to function as a secure, ultrahigh-bandwidth communications link with other AESA-equipped aircraft. Until now, only American aircraft have employed AESA radar. This will enable sharing more information than Link-16 or other current options, can now handle.

At present, main production and final assembly for the JSF is expected to take place in Lockheed's Fort Worth, TX plant. Italy is also interested in participating in final assembly for European orders, It expected that the entire F-35 program will cost in the neighborhood of $250 billon, or more.

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