There's more, from janes.com article 17 December 2014 ...
" ...The US Department of Defense has assigned maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) responsibilities for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter airframe and engine in the Asia-Pacific region to Australia and Japan, US officials announced on 17 December.
"This is another example of the continuing expansion of global sustainment opportunities for the international F-35 community," said Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the Pentagon's F-35 programme manager. He has said he expects "hundreds of billions of dollars" worth of F-35 work worldwide over the next five decades or so.
The decision comes just shy of a week following Lt Gen Bogdan's announcement that Italy and Turkey will provide initial MRO airframe and engine maintenance capability in Europe.
In the Pacific region, initial F-35 airframe MRO capability be split between two partners, with Japan proving capability for the Northern Pacific and Australia for the Southern Pacific. Both capabilities will be in place by early 2018, the Pentagon said in a press statement. For heavy maintenance of the Pratt & Whitney (P & W) F135 engine, the initial capability will be provided by Australia by early 2018. Japan is expected to begin providing additional capability 3-5 years later, according to the Pentagon. ... "
