<p>Chris Pocock has been covering the defense beat for AIN for over 30&nbsp;years. He is a British citizen and a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Chris worked in the air cargo business for ten years before becoming a full-time writer in 1983. He subsequently edited two air cargo journals before becoming AIN’s Defense Editor. He retired from that position in 2018, but still contributes to the publication. Chris has written extensively on aerial reconnaissance, including four books on the history of the U-2 spyplane. He also lectures on this and other topics related to intelligence-gathering in the Cold War.</p>


Defense Correspondent

Chris Pocock

<p>Some international partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program could delay signing up for production airplanes until 2013. George Standridge, Lockheed Martin F-35 vice president for business development, said that funding of long-lead items would be required 36 months before first flight, with a larger down-payment due 12 months later. On the latest F-35 production schedule, Canada, Denmark and Norway are not due to take delivery of their first F-35s until 2016. Lockheed Martin officials previously implied that all eight overseas countries would have to commit to production by the end of this year. The point is important in regards to Denmark and Norway, where an enhanced version of the Saab Gripen is being evaluated as an alternative to the F-35. The schedule shows that the first international deliveries would be in 2011 to the UK (two) and the Netherlands (one). The following year, these two countries would each receive one more aircraft. Australia would receive its first four aircraft in 2013, with Italy and Turkey following in 2014. Only during that year can any F-35s leave the U.S., Standridge noted. That’s when the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation phase is slated to be completed.</p>


F-35 Production Schedule Shows Staggered International Deliveries 

Some international partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program could delay signing up for production airplanes until 2013.

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