How The F-35 Expanded From 8 Countries to 18 Member-Nations

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Fort Worth, Texas) Before rolling into a special climate-controlled hangar to be painted “grey,” F-35s are assembled piece by piece inside a mile-long “mini-city” production facility with progressive stations stretching across a vast collection of work stations.

Engine integration, computing, avionics, software, weapons, advanced sensing and critical “cooling” technologies are all integrated in increments across the production line, where large and small parts and components of the stealth fighter are woven together into a completed airframe.

While the “building” of the aircraft may seem both self-evident and clear in purpose, there is a lingering mystery and a somewhat ineffable or less-palpable air of “pride” and “patriotism” filling the vast warehouse because, for a number of often lesser-known reasons, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is exploding across Europe and throughout the world. What began as nine (and now 8) initial partner nations years ago has more than doubled. There are at least 18 F-35 partner nations now, including both original members and Foreign Military Sales customers.

“Here is one mile of F-35s being built. The program has been very successful with the original countries and countries we have coming on board. The first countries are now part of an F-35 Executive Steering Board and they are joined by Foreign Military Sales customers who benefit from the program and pricing,” JR McDonald, Vice President, F-35 International Sales, Lockheed Martin, told Warrior in an interview on the production line.

In just the last several years, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Finland and Czech Republic are all now joining the F-35 community of nations, and McDonald told Warrior that there will be as many as 600 F-35s throughout the European continent by 2030. 

The tactical, strategic and operational merits of this ability to “mass” networked F-35s across the entire continent seem extensive, something F-35 proponents and advocates describe as limitless. The F-35 is of course already a stealthy multi-role fighter with advanced avionics, computing, software and weapons, yet its operational scope has expanded considerably in recent years. One of the reasons for this relates to the successful use of technical interfaces, gateways and other technologies designed to enable interoperability. All F-35s from all countries, for example, operate with a secure, high-bandwidth datalink known as Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL).