Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. US. The F-35 programme hit another milestone November 28 with the arrival of the first Foreign Military Sales F-35 at Luke Air Force Base. The arrival marked the next step for the international F-35 training programme as Japan took ownership of the first FMS aircraft to arrive at Luke. The aircraft was welcomed by a joint delegation from the 944 FW, 56th Fighter Wing, Lockheed Martin, and Japanese staff.
The arrival of the first FMS aircraft is the culmination of years of planning and hard work. “The jet arrival marks the beginning of a new and exciting mission at Luke AFB to train our allies to fly the F-35A,” explained Lt Col Joe Bemis, 944 OG Det. 2 executive officer and resource advisor. “We have been preparing for this programme for years. We have remodeled buildings, built a huge team of professional pilots, maintainers, and administration staff, and created specialised syllabus. We are hopeful that this mission will strengthen relationships between the US and nations that participate in the training.”
Over the next several years, Luke AFB will be training FMS pilots from Japan, Israel and South Korea along with partner nations including Australia, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada.
In addition to the Foreign Military Sales mission led by the 944 OG/Det 2 Ninjas, Luke is scheduled to have six fighter squadrons and 144 F-35s.
