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This is from NorwayÂ’s Ministry of Defence, followed with a statement from Lockheed Martin: On Friday the 23rd of March, 2012, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence released the new White Paper for the Norwegian Defence Sector. The paper builds on the significant improvements made over the course of the previous years while ensuring that the Norwegian Armed Forces remain capable of meeting both current and future operational requirements. The plan covers the four-year period from 2013-1016. During the course of this plan, NorwayÂ’s defence budget, already among the highest in Europe pr. capita, projects a real-term increase of 7%. This...

Lockheed Martin Corp on Friday welcomed news that Norway planned to increase its order for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets by four planes, and was considering pulling forward the delivery of two initial training jets by one year to 2015. Lockheed said the move showed the Norwegian government's "trust and confidence" in the F-35 program, and pledged to work closely with the Norwegian government to accommodate and implement its revamped plans. Lockheed is developing three variants of the radar-evading new fighter for the U.S. military and the eight partner countries that are helping fund its development: Britain, Norway, Canada, Denmark,...

A rescue team found the likely debris of a missing Norwegian military transport aircraft in the Arctic near the top of Sweden's highest mountain on Friday, Swedish officials said. There was no immediate sign of any survivors among the five Norwegian officers who had been aboard. The Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules transport craft lost contact with air traffic controllers at 1353 GMT on Thursday in high winds and snow as it took part in a 15-nation military exercise organised by Norway. After a frustrating air and ground search by Swedish, Danish and Norwegian rescue teams, an aircraft crew spotted apparent...

Tri-partite Coalition Party the Socialist Left (SV) has called for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter price not to exceed the defence budget of 40 billion kroner. Labour (Ap) wishes to allocate extra money, whilst the Centre Party (Sp) will not comment. Bård Vegar Solhjell, SV’s parliamentary leader, believes that an aging population, climate and education are more important. He told Aftenposten, “Few would argue that military threats are among our most important challenges. We cannot live with the fact that the armed forces and national insurance being the only major initiatives forward, without caring about education and the climate.” Decisions...

Fokker Aircraft Services (FAS) is celebrating the 1111th F-16 to undergo maintenance at its facility. The jet belongs to the Royal Norwegian Air Force and arrived at Fokker Aircraft Service's hangars this November where it will undergo a 300 FH Phase Inspection. The first Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon arrived at Fokker nearly 30 years ago from the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Its multifaceted modification work encompassed both modernization and structural improvements. Since then, Fokker's servicing of F-16s has steadily progressed with work conducted on behalf of the Royal Danish Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe, Portuguese Air...