The brand new F-35I jets will carry the overall “Adir” fleet of the Israeli Air Pressure to 75 plane.
The Israeli Air Pressure will add one other F-35I squadron buying an extra 25 “Adir” jets (because the personalized F-35As operated by the IAF is designated) to the 50 already in service with the 140 Sqn “Golden Eagle” and 116 Sqn “Defenders of the South” based mostly at Nevatim AB (Air Base), within the Negev Desert. Each the a hundred and fortieth and 116th Squadrons, that make up the “Adir Division”, beforehand operated the F-16A/B “Netz” (Hawk), a sort that was retired after 36 years of service in December 2016.
Whereas an choice for extra 25 F-35s has been public for a number of years, the Israeli Air Pressure has by no means disclosed its basing plans for the third Adir squadron.
“Minister of Protection Yoav Gallant has accepted the advice proposed by the IDF Chief of the Common Employees, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Director Common of the Israel Ministry of Protection, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir, and Commander of the Israeli Air Pressure, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, to obtain a 3rd F-35 squadron for the Israel Protection Forces (IDF),” Israel’s MoD stated in a public assertion on Sept. 3, 2023.
“Following the Minister of Protection’s approval, the IMOD Mission to the USA will challenge an official letter of request (LOR) to the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Workplace (JPO). This step will facilitate the approval and signing of the transaction within the coming months.”
Apparently, the Ministry estimates that the worth of the deal is about 3B U.S. {dollars}, which will likely be financed by U.S. safety help funds to Israel.
“The worth of the deal is roughly $3 billion, financed by American help funds. As a part of the unique settlement between the governments, the plane’s producer, Lockheed Martin, and the engine producer, Pratt & Whitney, have dedicated to involving Israeli protection industries within the manufacturing of plane parts offered.”
The primary three jets of the brand new squadron are anticipated to reach in Israel in 2027. Deliveries will proceed with three plane per 12 months till 2035.
The primary F-35s for Israel have been delivered on Dec. 12, 2016.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based mostly in Rome, Italy. He’s the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of many world’s most well-known and browse army aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for main worldwide magazines, together with Air Forces Month-to-month, Fight Plane, and lots of others, protecting aviation, protection, conflict, trade, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown a number of fight planes with completely different air forces. He’s a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Pressure, a personal pilot and a graduate in Laptop Engineering. He has written 5 books and contributed to many extra ones.
