UK and Norway are looking for a deal to cut costs

UK government and Norwegian government will team up and split the costs of the most expensive fighter jet ever made. Both countries have ordered F-35 jet fighters from Lockheed Martin and both are looking for a way of cutting the prices down.

A potential deal between Norwegian Air Force and the Royal Air Force was talked about recently in London. Philip Hammond, the British defence secretary met his Norwegian counterpart, Eriksen Soreide to discuss a deal between these two countries that could cut costs on both sides.

“We will both have initially have quite small fleets of F-35 aircraft so it makes sense to share some of the expensive infrastructure. This plane requires special and costly support structures to operate,” said the Norwegian Defence Minister.

The RAF has ordered in excess of 100 planes from Lockheed martin, while the Norwegian Air Force ordered 56 planes. The F-35 Lightning is one of the most expensive weapon programme ever. The US and other development partners have already spent 390 billion US dollars.

The F-35 stealth fighter is the most expensive fighter jet ever build. It's a fifth generation stealth aircraft developed for air defence, ground attack and reconnaissance. Lockheed Martin developed three separate variants of the F-35. The F35A for conventional takeoff and landing, F-35B for short takeoff and vertical landing and F-35C for the Navy. The last two designs have thrust vectoring capabilities for increased agility and vertical landings. The cost of a single aircraft is mind-bending. The F-35 costs roughly 150 million US dollars, while the C version is almost 200 million dollars. All F-35 models ordered by the Norwegian Air Forces are A versions, while the RAF ordered mostly B versions.