The first physical components destined for Switzerland’s future F-35A fleet have entered production at Leonardo’s Cameri facility in northern Italy, several years before the country begins receiving the fighters.
The work involves a fuselage section identified as MJ-4 and a wing that will eventually form part of J-6004, the fourth F-35A assigned a Swiss military registration. The two structures have already been joined at Cameri, according to Swiss defense procurement agency Armasuisse.
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Despite some reports describing the development as the start of production of the first Swiss F-35s in Italy, J-6004 will not be assembled there. Once work on the structure is completed, the fuselage section with its wings attached will be transported to Lockheed Martin’s plant in Fort Worth, Texas, where it will be joined with the remaining major sections and systems to become a complete aircraft.
The arrangement illustrates the unusually dispersed manufacturing system behind the F-35. More than 2,100 suppliers participate in the program worldwide, with major structures produced in several countries before they reach a final assembly facility.
Cameri itself has a substantial role in that network. The Italian plant produces about one-third of all F-35 wings and also operates a Final Assembly and Check Out facility capable of completing up to 20 aircraft per year. It assembles both F-35A and short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B fighters.
Other major structures originate elsewhere. The center fuselage is produced in Germany, while the rear fuselage comes from the United Kingdom. Fort Worth remains Lockheed Martin’s principal F-35 production site, with Cameri and Nagoya, Japan, providing additional final assembly capacity.
First fighters remain in the US
Switzerland originally selected 36 F-35As to replace its F/A-18C/D Hornets and F-5E/F Tigers, but the acquisition has since faced a major cost dispute between Bern and Washington. The Swiss government now expects to acquire 30 aircraft within the CHF 6 billion budget approved for the program.
The first eight Swiss F-35As will be built in the United States and are scheduled to enter use from mid-2027 at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas. They will initially remain there for training of Swiss pilots and ground personnel before their eventual transfer to Europe.
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Aircraft produced through Cameri will follow a different path. The first F-35A completed at the Italian facility for Switzerland is expected to be transferred directly to the country in mid-2028.
J-6004, whose first structures are now taking shape in Cameri before final assembly in Texas, is scheduled to arrive in Switzerland by the end of 2029.
The Swiss Air Force plans to introduce the F-35A progressively at three bases. Operations at Payerne are scheduled to begin in mid-2028, followed by Meiringen in 2030 and Emmen in 2032.
