The F-35 assembly facility in Cameri, Italy, welcomed its first ever international F-35 for an overhaul as a Norwegian fighter landed there on July 4.
The Norwegian F-35 was sent for repairs to Italy as part of the international collaboration in the Joint Strike Fighter program that will see Cameri maintain the fifth-generation fighters from a number of European operators.
Lockheed Martin, the fighter jet manufacturer, revealed earlier that the Italian facility had achieved full operational capability for F-35 upkeep this summer.
The first fighter to undergo the major overhaul is set to complete the procedure by November 17 this year, according to the Norwegian defense ministry. The plan is that at all times in the next few years there will be a Norwegian F-35 in Italy for maintenance.
Set up as one of only three F-35 assembly facilities worldwide, the other two being in the US and Japan, the Cameri facility is owned by the Italian government and operated by defense technology company Leonardo as a Lockheed Martin subcontractor.
Cameri will be responsible for the maintenance of Italian, British and Dutch F-35s. Italian officials are also working on securing agreements to assemble Swiss and German F-35s at Cameri in the future. The site has so far delivered F-35s for the Italian Air Force and Navy, as well as for the Dutch Air Force.
