F-35 nations prize spare parts, as US dismisses kill-switch angst

MILAN — Norway became the first F-35 partner nation to fulfill its program of record with the delivery of the last two F-35A airframes this month, marking the completion of the Scandinavian country’s order of 52 aircraft, manufacturer Lockheed Martin said.

The announcement followed the establishment last month of a new F-35 maintenance centre in Rygge, Norway . The sustainment work and future upgrades will be carried out at the new 5,000 square-meter facility by Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services and the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency.

Before this, intermediate-level upkeep for the Norwegian fighter jets was done at the Italian F-35 maintenance hub in Cameri.

The creation of a national facility will allow Norway to gain an independent capacity to perform this work locally, strengthen supply chains, and increase operational availability, a Kongsberg statement said.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, concerns have grown in Europe about the extent to which Washington could exercise control over F-35 fleets globally. Such worries spring from a new degree of unpredictability of an ally whose weapons exports have underwritten much of the West’s deterrence architecture for decades.

Lockheed executives have refuted the existence of a remote F-35 “kill-switch” by which leaders in Washington, soured on Europe, could turn the aircraft into expensive chunks of metal. At the same time, the inner workings of the warplane’s sprawling ecosystem for operations and maintenance are, by design, a U.S. construct, meant to offer client nations peace of mind because of Washington’s backing.

One spotlight now lies on the distribution of spare parts, a potential bottleneck that F-35 nations are moving to preempt.

Endre Lunde, special adviser to the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency, said it is rare to see spare parts transferred from one F-35 nation to another, with components remaining American property until they are mounted on a country’s jets.

At that point, they are handed over to the user country for budget, accounting and custom purposes, and this also applies to any parts manufactured by the Norwegian industry for the F-35, Lunde explained.

“They do so as subcontractors of the F-35 prime contractors, [therefore] the parts are exported to them for use either on new aircraft or to be used as spare parts – we do not buy F-35 parts directly from our industry, as all of them are pooled or distributed to the user nations through combined contracts,” Lunde told Defense News in an email statement.

As F-35 countries rarely possess more components than what they require for their daily operations or national readiness stocks, it is infrequent to see instances where spares are sent to other users.

“So far, the only examples we’ve had of F-35 parts leaving Norway have been when they are shipped back to the U.S. for repair and replacement,” Lunde said.

Mediterranean footprint

On March 24 a U.S. F-35 based in the UK touched down at Cameri air base to become the first American jet to check in for a tune-up at Italy’s Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul, and Upgrade (MRO&U) hub.

Funded by Italy and managed by local firm Leonardo, the center is co-run with Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office and has already serviced Italian, Norwegian and Dutch F-35s.

The tighter cooperation on F-35 logistics is giving Europe greater responsibility while at the same time creating greater inter-dependance with the U.S.

Dubbed the F-35 Euro-Mediterranean Airframe Depot, the center sits alongside a final assembly line for the jet which has turned out Italian and Dutch F-35s and is where Lockheed Martin staff have handled sensitive aspects of assembly such as anti-radar coatings.

Cameri is the only site in Europe offering heavy maintenance and is now expanding its operation as European fleets grow.

Capt. Sigfrido Chiandussi, the Italian national deputy with the F-35 Joint Program Office, said Italy’s investment in the centre was “significant”, adding, “we are confident that our investment will yield significant returns in terms of regional security, stability, and prosperity for all.”

In general, every F-35 nation also maintains a national readiness stock of spare parts for its aircraft, known as security of supply. For Norway, this has looked like investing in separate spare parts packages for the country’s readiness requirements, where it can operate the aircraft independently for a certain period during crises.

In the Netherlands, which stands to get upwards of 50 of the fifth-generation aircraft, a court case last year by three humanitarian organizations seeking to block the shipment of F-35 parts to Israel shed some light on how logistics for the stealth aircraft are managed. Woensdrecht Air Base, the main support base of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, acts as one of three global distribution hubs for F-35 parts for several countries.

The three hubs store U.S. supplied parts that are then forwarded to F-35 users, with the parts remaining property of the U.S. until they’re mounted on an F-35, according to court documents. The Dutch distribution hub supplies parts to countries including the Netherlands as well as Israel, which is a user but not a partner in the F-35 program.

The Netherlands made the choice in 2001 to participate in development of the F-35, and the country says Dutch firms provide airframe parts, cables, in-flight opening doors and parts of the power supply and radar systems.

The Norwegian Air Force, for its part, trains regularly for situations where it may not have access to central maintenance servers and must fly the aircraft unassisted for a given length of time, Lunde said.

Finland, which has ordered 64 F-35s, has a similar security clause in place. According to a Finnish Air Force Command representative, the national production capabilities are reinforced by a spare parts reserve that is under national control and ensures “continuity of operations in all situations.”

Tom Kington in Rome and Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris contributed to this story.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that the F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——制造商洛克希德·马丁公司表示，挪威本月接收了最后两架F-35A飞机，成为第一个完成F-35项目记录的合作伙伴国家，标志着这个北欧国家52架飞机的订单全部完成。

此前，挪威吕格上个月新建了一座F-35维护中心。这座占地5000平方米的新设施将由康斯伯格航空维修服务公司和挪威国防物资局负责维护保养工作和未来的升级改造。

在此之前，挪威战斗机的中级维护是在意大利卡梅里F-35维护中心进行的。

康斯伯格公司在一份声明中表示，建立国家级设施将使挪威获得在当地独立开展这项工作的能力，加强供应链，并提高运营可用性。

自美国总统唐纳德·特朗普1月就职以来，欧洲日益担忧华盛顿在全球范围内对F-35机队的控制程度。这种担忧源于一个盟友行为的不确定性增加，而几十年来，美国的武器出口一直是西方威慑体系的重要组成部分。

洛克希德公司的高管否认了F-35战机存在远程“自毁开关”的说法，即华盛顿的领导人如果对欧洲感到不满，可以通过这个开关将战机变成一堆昂贵的废铁。与此同时，这款战机庞大的运行和维护生态系统的内部运作，从设计上来说就是美国一手打造的，旨在让其盟友国家因为华盛顿的支持而感到安心。

现在人们关注的焦点之一是备件的分发，这可能是一个瓶颈，F-35 各国正在采取措施提前解决这个问题。

挪威国防物资局特别顾问恩德雷·伦德表示，F-35 战机的零部件从一个国家转移到另一个国家的情况很少见，这些零部件在安装到某个国家的战机上之前，仍然是美国的财产。

伦德解释说，届时，这些零件将被移交给用户国，用于预算、会计和海关用途，这也适用于挪威工业为 F-35 制造的任何零件。

“他们作为 F-35 主承包商的分包商这样做，[因此]这些零部件被出口给他们，用于新飞机或作为备件——我们不直接从本国企业购买 F-35 零部件，因为所有这些零部件都是集中起来的，或者通过联合合同分发给用户国，”伦德在给《防务新闻》的电子邮件声明中表示。

由于 F-35 国家很少拥有超出其日常运营或国家战备库存所需的零部件，因此很少见到备件被送往其他用户的情况。

“到目前为止，我们所见到的F-35零部件离开挪威的唯一例子，就是它们被运回美国进行维修和更换，”伦德说。

地中海风情

3月24日，一架驻扎在英国的美国F-35战斗机降落在卡梅里空军基地，成为第一架到意大利维护、修理、大修和升级（MRO&U）中心进行检修的美国喷气式飞机。

该中心由意大利出资，由当地公司莱昂纳多管理，与洛克希德·马丁公司和F-35联合项目办公室共同运营，已经为意大利、挪威和荷兰的F-35战斗机提供过维修服务。

在F-35后勤保障方面更紧密的合作，赋予了欧洲更大的责任，同时也加剧了与美国的相互依存。

该中心被称为 F-35 欧洲-地中海机身维修站，位于该喷气式飞机的总装线旁边，这条总装线已经生产出了意大利和荷兰的 F-35 战斗机，洛克希德·马丁公司的工作人员在这里处理了组装过程中的敏感方面，例如反雷达涂层。

Cameri 是欧洲唯一一家提供重型维修服务的公司，随着欧洲车队的增长，该公司正在扩大其业务。

意大利国家代表、F-35联合项目办公室的西格弗里多·基安杜西上尉表示，意大利对该中心的投资“意义重大”，并补充说，“我们相信，我们的投资将在区域安全、稳定和繁荣方面带来显著回报。”

一般来说，所有拥有F-30战机的国家都会为其战机储备国家级备件，即所谓的“供应安全”。对挪威而言，这意味着投资购买满足本国战备需求的独立备件包，以便在危机期间能够独立运行战机一段时间。

荷兰预计将获得多达50架第五代战机。去年，三个人道主义组织提起诉讼，试图阻止F-35零部件运往以色列。此案揭示了隐形战机的后勤管理方式。荷兰皇家空军的主要支援基地——温斯德雷赫特空军基地，是F-35零部件的三大全球分销中心之一，负责向多个国家供应零部件。

根据法庭文件，这三个配送中心储存着美国提供的零部件，然后分发给F-35用户。这些零部件在安装到F-35战机上之前，所有权仍归美国所有。荷兰配送中心向包括荷兰和以色列在内的多个国家供应零部件。以色列是F-35项目的用户，但并非该项目的合作伙伴。

荷兰于 2001 年选择参与 F-35 的研发，该国表示，荷兰公司提供机身部件、电缆、飞行中开启的舱门以及电源和雷达系统的部分部件。

伦德表示，挪威空军方面会定期进行训练，以应对无法访问中央维护服务器，必须在一定时间内独自驾驶飞机的情况。

芬兰已订购了64架F-35战斗机，其合同中也包含类似的安保条款。据芬兰空军司令部一位代表称，芬兰拥有自主控制的备件储备，这增强了其国家生产能力，并确保“在任何情况下都能持续作战”。

汤姆·金顿（罗马）和鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格（巴黎）对本文亦有贡献。

编者按：本文已更新，以反映 F-35 是第五代战斗机。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。