Another significant step has been taken towards receiving Denmark’s future fighters. It happened in the USA, when the first Danish F-35 fighter was painted with Dannebrog on the tail fin, round cockades on wings and frame and especially the complex and grayish painting as the base color. 

There is not much time until the Armed Forces’ new F-35 fighter aircraft flies for the first time. Before then, the fighter with the nickname L-001 had to go through an advanced painting process. 

Using modern robot technology and automated processes, the L-001 was first painted with the greyish color, making it easier for the aircraft to blend with the hazy background. It is a longer process that extends over about four weeks because several layers need to be painted and each layer needs to be 100 percent smooth and without the slightest impurity. 

Shortly after the greyish base color has hardened, the state-of-the-art F-35 fighter aircraft was decorated with the Dannebrog flag and the cockades which the Air Force Command has chosen all Danish F-35 fighter aircraft must be painted with. Chief of Staff of the Danish Air Command, Jan Dam, has previously described that this choice was made based on two considerations. Partly from a desire to let the planes be easily recognizable when they are on the runway together with F-35s from other countries, and partly to mark that the fighters are not just new fighters of The Danish Armed Forces or The Royal Danish Airforce, but they are the benefit and protection of the whole Denmark.

In-depth Tests Before Flight 

The L-001 will now go through a series of comprehensive tests to ensure that all systems in the aircraft function properly. Among other things, it covers a wide range of software tests, where all the aircraft’s mechanical and electronic systems are tested. 

Finally, four test flights are completed with the aircraft. The first two are conducted by test pilots from Lockheed Martin, who produced the aircraft. The two last tests flights are carried out by test pilots from the United States Armed Forces in connection with the transfer of the aircraft from Lockheed Martin to the Danish F-35 program.

F-35 Lightning release