Defense Minister Ehud Barak will chair a key meeting this week during which he
is expected to decide whether Israel will buy new stealth fighter
jets.
Barak was in Washington late last month for talks with his American
counterpart, Robert Gates, that focused on Israeli plans to purchase the
fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
While the Pentagon has
approved an Israeli request to buy 75 JSFs, Israel plans – as a first stage – to
acquire only around 20.
Two main obstacles have slowed down Israeli
procurement plans until now – the price of each aircraft is likely to reach just
over $140 million, and there is US opposition to the integration of Israeli
systems into the planes. Barak raised the second issue with Gates and announced
after the meeting that significant progress had been made.
Due to the
high cost of the aircraft, Israel will, as a first stage, buy a smaller number
of aircraft, which will be configured, with minor changes, the same as those
operated by the US Air Force. These planes will begin arriving in Israel toward
the end of 2015.
The second batch of aircraft, likely to arrive in the
second half of the decade, will already be designed according to Israeli
specifications and include Israeli-made systems.
Barak will convene
senior Defense Ministry procurement officials and top IDF and IAF officers for a
meeting on Wednesday, during which the details of a deal are expected to be
finalized. Barak will then bring the agreement to the security cabinet for final
approval.
One of the Israel Air Force’s main motivations for becoming the
first non-US customer to receive the aircraft is concern that other countries in
the region – particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia – will be allowed to purchase
the aircraft.
Israel, for example, was the first country outside the US
to buy F-15s, but Saudi Arabia now operates a significant number of F-15s and is
in talks with the Pentagon regarding the purchase of an additional
84.
While the Saudi interest in the new plane is understood as having
more to do with the kingdom’s concern regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Israel
is also worried about the increasing Saudi air power.
“We work according
to the assumption that other countries will receive the jet, and that is why we
need to be the first,” a top IDF officer said last week. “The JSF not only
provides unbelievable capabilities, but will also assist Israel in boosting its
deterrence.”