The so called "increase" in F-35 numbers is a fiction.

Thanks to Jonathan for the link!

via Defense Aerospace.

To support Norway’s continued acquisition of the F-35 along with its associated infrastructure the Government proposes a 2016 budget allocation of NOK 8.6 billion. While this proposal includes NOK 1.1 billion re-allocated from the 2015 budget due to planned payments that have been postponed, this nevertheless constitutes a near doubling of the 2015-level.
Also covered by the funding increase are additional funds for the construction of the new F-35-base at Ørland Main Air Station, where several projects are already underway to prepare for the arrival of the first F-35 in Norway in 2017.
The Norwegian Parliament has already authorized the procurement of 22 of the 52 aircraft Norway plans to procure, which includes deliveries up to and including 2019. In the 2016 budget, the Government requests authorization to begin procurement of an additional six aircraft for delivery in 2020.
On Tuesday the 6th of October the Norwegian acquisition of the F-35 reached another milestone as the second F-35 for Norway, AM-2, completed a successful test flight from Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas. This was the first flight for a Norwegian F-35, and comes only two weeks after the formal roll-out ceremony for the first Norwegian F-35.

That sounds like fantastic news doesn't it (if you're a F-35 fanboy).  But wait a sec...lets see what the Editor of Defense Aerospace has to say...

EDITOR’S NOTE: The “near-doubling” of funding for the F-35 program that leads the above statement by Norway’s MoD is achieved by carrying over 1.1 billion kroner of unspent money from 2015.
In actual fact, there is no “near-doubling” as combined funding for the program in 2015 and 2016 remains flat.
It is disappointing to see Norway’s government adopting the “smoke and mirrors” approach to public communications used by Lockheed Martin and by other, less reputable, governments.

A lie from the Norwegian Ministry of Defense?  I'm surprised.  I believed that they were beyond the type of games that our own DoD revels in.

But I shouldn't be.  Lockheed Martin and the F-35 has corrupted the defense establishments of the western world.