‘F-35 to usher in next era of how IAF operates in the sky’

Israel’s new fighter jet, known as “Adir” (“Mighty”) in Hebrew, will be unveiled Wednesday at Lockheed Martin plant in Texas • Despite “typical growing pains,” the plane “will be able to perform everything expected of it and more,” officials say.

Yoav Limor, ISRAEL HAYOM

All F-35s acquired by Israel will be fitted with Israeli-made technology | Photo credit: Yissachar Ruas

The Israel Air Force’s fighter jet of the future, the F-35, named “Adir” (“Mighty”) in Hebrew, will be unveiled Wednesday in a festive roll out ceremony to be held at the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft is expected to arrive in Israel by the end of the year.

Israel has purchased 33 F-35s so far and intends to purchase 50 altogether, which will comprise two squadrons. The final package is dependent on talks over American security aid to Israel. The IAF is interested in ultimately introducing 75 Adirs into its fleet (to which the U.S. administration has already agreed in principle).

Israel will be the first country outside the U.S. to receive the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, which will position Israel’s air force at the cutting edge of technology.

In the coming months, the IAF will train on two Adirs at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The two planes are expected to arrive in Israel in December, with seven additional planes expected to arrive next year. The first squadron, which will be operational in 2018, will consist of 19 Adir jets, purchased at a price of $2.7 billion.

Attending the ceremony in Fort Worth on Wednesday will be the Adir squadron commander, identified only as Lt. Col. I, and the first five pilots who have already been assigned to fly the new planes. They will join senior Israeli and American officials, including Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, his top staff and senior IAF officers, along with Lockheed Martin directors and Pentagon representatives.

Questions over the aircraft’s capabilities have been raised, but the IAF and Lockheed officials are convinced that all the challenges facing its development have been nothing more than “typical growing pains” and that it is essential to Israel’s qualitative military superiority in the region. The F-35, they say, “will be able to perform everything expected of it and more.”

According to the IAF, in addition to helping Israel maintain its qualitative military edge in the region, the Adir will also provide the IDF with capabilities beyond its core stealth characteristics, essentially ushering in the next era of how the IAF will operate in the sky.

In efforts to prevent operational and intelligence exposure to other countries, Israel insisted that the planes it acquires be fitted with Israeli-made technology. Those technological components will be installed in Israel.

Several Israeli defense industry companies are involved in the project, among them Israel Aerospace Industries (which will manufacture some 800 wings for the F-35) and Elbit Systems (which makes the pilot helmets for all F-35s to be used across the globe).

Lockheed Martin officials have said that the purchase of additional planes by the IAF will be accompanied by more contracts for Israeli defense industry companies.