The Royal Norwegian Air Force’s first two F-35A Lightning IIs arrived at Luke AFB, Ariz., on Nov. 10, joining the burgeoning fleet at the international schoolhouse there, Luke officials announced. The aircraft joined the 62nd Fighter Squadron, Luke’s second F-35 training squadron. “Today, as we accept our first partner aircraft into the squadron, we are one step closer to fulfilling our mission of training the best F-35 pilots from around the world,” 62nd FS Commander Lt. Col. Gregory Frana said in a release. The first Italian air force trainee pilots began F-35 flying at Luke earlier this month and “we have been working closely with our Norwegian partners to ensure that we are ready to receive and fly the most technologically advanced aircraft the world has ever seen,” added Frana. Luke currently hosts a total of 32 F-35s, including Royal Australian Air Force jets, and will eventually operate a total of 144 Lightning IIs, training pilots from Canada, the Netherlands, and Turkey as well.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.