The Royal Danish Air Force has inducted the first fifth-generation F-35A Lightning II fighter jets into service

In mid-September, the first batch of fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters arrived in Denmark. The official ceremony dedicated to putting the aircraft into service took place only two weeks later.

Here's What We Know

The four fifth-generation fighters arrived at Royal Danish Air Force Base Skrydstrup in transit through the Azores, where the planes replenished their fuel supply. The journey from the US to Scandinavia took two days.

The Danish authorities decided to hold a large-scale ceremony to mark the commissioning of the first F-35 Lightning IIs. Thousands of residents of the Scandinavian country gathered to watch the event. F-35 made an hour and a half flight over Denmark. They were occasionally joined by older fourth-generation F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters.

Denmark played a crucial role in the Joint Strike Fighter programme, which it joined in 2002 during the development and demonstration phase of the fifth-generation platform. The Scandinavian country was able to have a strategic influence on the project. This is stated in a press release on Lockheed Martin's official website.

Deliveries of the F-35 Lightning II began in April 2021, but all this time the aircraft remained in the US for pilot training. Lockheed Martin has already delivered 10 fighter jets to the customer, but six of them are at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.

Denmark has ordered a total of 27 aircraft in the standard F-35A modification without shortened takeoff, vertical landing and carrier-based capabilities. It is expected that Lockheed Martin will be able to resume deliveries of aircraft to Denmark in the second half of next year. The company is now sending the fighter jets to a warehouse due to Technology Refresh 3 modernisation issues.

Source: Lockheed Martin