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.

Defense Correspondent

Chris Pocock

**STORY UPDATED 12/22/14**

 


Nations buying the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter will be obliged to use depots nominated by the U.S. Joint Program Office (JPO) for heavy maintenance on the airframes and engines. The JPO <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2014-12-15/italy-and-turkey-win-major-f-35-overhaul-work">last week chose two countries in Europe</a> to perform this work in the initial years of the F-35’s deployment. This week, it announced the countries that have won the F-35 depot work for F-35s based in the Pacific region. The JPO said that the awards will be reviewed after three to five years.

 


In Europe, all heavy airframe maintenance will be done at Cameri air&nbsp;base, where Italy is already spending an estimated $1 billion to establish a Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) operation. The JPO estimates that 45 to 50 F-35 airframes will cycle through Cameri for overhaul or modification between 2018 and 2022. The business will be worth $30- $35 million to Alenia, which will run the overhaul facility.

 


In the Pacific region, two depots for airframe overhaul will be established by 2018, in Japan and Australia. The countries nominated to perform initial F135 engine overhauls are Turkey and Australia. The Netherlands, Norway and Japan may provide additional engine overhauls, but not until at least 2020-2021.

 


The Republic of Korea has objected to the JPO's choice of Japan as the F-35 depot for north Asia.&nbsp;"There will never be a case where our fighter jets will be taken to Japan for maintenance," an official at the country's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) told Reuters.&nbsp;"South Korea has the right to decide where to conduct maintenance for its F-35 jets," the official continued. An Australian defence ministry source told Reuters that the 40 Korean F-35s would be serviced there.&nbsp;

 


Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the head of the JPO, said that security constraints would limit the ability of other F-35 nations to maintain their own aircraft. “We have to be very careful how we expose the F-35’s capabilities,” he told AIN. “We won’t prevent nations doing some sovereign work, up to the limits that the U.S. allows. Right now, heavy airframe and engine maintenance is [beyond that limit] and will be done only in regional facilities with security oversight by the U.S. government,” he added.

 


The UK is the senior foreign partner on the F-35 program, but will be doing overhauls only if additional airframe capability is required in the European region, the JPO said. A spokesman for BAE Systems confirmed to AIN that the company pitched for heavy F-35 airframe maintenance. The JPO’s choice of Italy “does not impact on our existing involvement in the F-35 program, and we will continue to deliver on our commitments,” the spokesman added.

 


Bogdan said that the JPO will be assigning the overhaul of F-35 components over the next two years, so there will be many opportunities for second- and third-tier suppliers in various countries to become part of the F-35 MRO chain. He promised that the JPO will make “well informed, best-value decisions to shape the F-35 global sustainment posture for decades to come.”

 


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Limited Choices for F-35 Heavy Maintenance, U.S. Confirms

Security is a major factor driving assignments of airframe and engine MRO work for the stealth fighter

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