Israel to get 3 more F-35 jets on Sunday,
army says
Country plans to be first outside US with
squadron of the $110 million supersonic stealth fighter planes
BY AFP April
20, 2017, 10:18 pm
Israel is to take delivery of three more F-35
stealth fighters from the United States on Sunday, adding to two that arrived
in December, an army statement said.
They are among 50 that Israel has agreed to
buy from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.
US President Donald Trump has publicly
upbraided Lockheed over “out of control” costs of the plane, the most expensive
in history.
The company has said it will bring down the
price in the future.
While other countries have ordered the
planes, Israel — which receives more than $3 billion a year in US defense aid —
says it will be the first outside the United States with an operational F-35
squadron.
Israel is buying its first 33 F-35s at an
average price of about $110 million (NIS 400 million) each.
Israeli components will be integrated in the
aircraft, which will be known as the F-35I.
Among its main features are advanced stealth
capabilities to help pilots evade sophisticated missile systems.
The single-pilot jets can carry an array of
weapons and travel at a supersonic speed of Mach 1.6, or around 1,900
kilometers per hour (1,200 miles per hour).
The pilot’s ultra-high-tech helmet, at a cost
of some $400,000 each, includes its own operating system, with data that
appears on the visor and is also shared elsewhere.
Thermal and night vision as well as
360-degree views are possible with cameras mounted on the plane.
The two F-35s delivered in December landed
around six hours late after being delayed by bad weather in Italy, believed to
be fog.
A Lockheed official said the holdup was
caused by Italian air safety regulations, rather than any limitation of the
planes, but this did not stop jibes.
“Here’s hoping we only go to war on sunny
days…” one Israeli joked on Twitter.
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