EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 53rd Electronic Warfare Group’s Partner Support Complex delivered the F-35 mission data file to Norway Oct. 26.This is the first overseas delivery of Block 3F mission data to a foreign nation and was accomplished in anticipation of Norway’s first F-35s, which arrived last week and will be marked by a Nov.10 ceremony there.
“Delivery of this mission data file to Norway marks a great landmark,” said Robert Kraus, F-35 PSC director. “Our software provides the Norwegian F-35 an unprecedented precision attack capability – a crucial element to maintaining peace.”
The delivery of Block 3F mission data is important because it enables the F-35 to accomplish its primary missions of air interdiction, close air support, and suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses. Mission data files enable the aircraft to know what threats to search for and when, providing the F-35 its means of deciphering the environment.
“Mission data files are essential to the combat capability of the Lightning II,” said Dylan Duplechain, F-35 PSC chief engineer. “They provide the warfighter an extraordinary situational awareness capability and an unmatched ability to react to the threat environment.”
The men and women of the PSC are charged with programing this essential mission data software for eight F-35 partner nations, to include Norway, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Denmark.
“The F-35 remains crucial to the continued modernization of our armed forces and our ability to preserve Norwegian and allied security and interests,” said Maj. Gen. Morten Klever, F-35 program director for Norway's Ministry of Defense. “Receiving the first three aircraft at Ørland Air Base Nov. 3 is a major milestone for Norway, presenting any future opponent with a credible threshold against military aggression or coercion."