US approves sale of 75 jets to Israel; IDF to buy IMI cluster bomb with self-destruct mechanism.
By YAAKOV KATZf-35 top benzona 298.88(photo credit: Courtesy)
Fearing that the United States will sell the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern states, the Defense Ministry is seeking American approval to install Israeli-made electronic systems on the stealth fighter jets it buys.
One reason Israel is asking for the changes is so if the aircraft is sold to other states in the region, the IAF's version will be unique and superior.
Israel has been looking for further US support on a variety of defense measures - including developing advanced missile defense capabilities, acquiring smart bomb technology and expediting the F-35s sale - with the Iranian nuclear threat looming.
On Tuesday, the US Defense Department notified Congress of plans to sell up to 75 JSF fifth-generation fighter jets to Israel in a $15.2 billion deal for the aircraft, which is expected to be the mainstay of air power in the US and several other nations for decades.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said it notified Congress on Friday that Israel has asked to buy 25 of the F-35s, with an option to buy an additional 50 at a later date.
The sale would be the first to a country outside of the US and the other eight partner nations that are collaborating on the F-35, which is manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Israel said it plans to buy a fleet of F-35s as it upgrades its military technology. The first batch of 25 would be the variant of F-35 designed for conventional take off from military airfields, but the later 50 could include a version that can land and take off vertically, similar to a helicopter.
If approved by Congress in the next 30 days, Israel will likely sign an official contract with the US Air Force in the coming months and begin receiving the aircraft in 2014.
While news of the Pentagon approval was positively received in the Defense Ministry, officials said it was still too early to celebrate since Israel has yet to receive final Pentagon approval to allow the IAF to install Israeli-made systems in the plane.
The result of the negotiations will be a determining factor in the number of aircraft Israel decides to purchase.
The technology issue was discussed last week between the IAF and a team of US military officers from the JSF Program who were in Israel. It also was at the focus of talks Defense Ministry Director-General Pinhas Buchris held in Washington earlier this month.
Israeli demands include installing an advanced radar and conformal fuel tank design for long-range missions made by Israel Aerospace Industries, as well as other electronic and weapons systems that could require changes to the configuration of the aircraft.
"We have unique needs and need to retain our superiority in the region," a senior defense official explained. "To meet these needs we must to be able to install our own systems."
If Israel exercises the vertical option, it would be the first time that the IAF obtains this capability, needed out of fear that Israeli airfields would be paralyzed by enemy missiles in a future conflict and planes would have difficulty taking off in a conventional fashion.
In its statement to Congress, the DSCA said the sale would help Israel "develop and maintain a strong self-defense capability" and that the deal would not upset the balance of military power in the region.
Britain, Turkey and Australia are among the eight countries participating in the JSF project. Israel enjoys the status of a Security Cooperation Participant after paying $20 million in 2003 to obtain access to information accumulated during the development of the jet, which will be priced at somewhere between $50-60m.
The jet is still under development and is not yet in service, but the US plans to eventually acquire 2,458 planes for the Army, Marines and Air Force at a cost of $300 billion.
While the jet is expected to be widely used, the program has suffered delays and escalating costs that have been criticized by government auditors.
When maintenance and service costs for the life of the jet are added in, the cost of the F-35 to the US could reach $1 trillion over the next several decades.
Also Wednesday, defense officials confirmed that the IDF plans to purchase cluster bombs from Israel Military Industries (IMI) that have a built-in self-destruct mechanism which destroys the bomb if it does not detonate upon landing.
The use of this type of bomb will dramatically reduce civilian casualties and spare Israel diplomatic criticism like it faced following its use of cluster bombs during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
Until now, the IDF has used its foreign aid money from America to buy cluster bombs in the US.
In a recent report, the United Nations said that nearly 40 people have been killed by bomblets left in open fields since the end of the war. Estimates are that Israel fired close to one million bomblets into Lebanon during the war.
"The self-destruct mechanism takes care of one of the main problems with cluster bombs," said one IMI official. "Some of the bomblets do not explode when they hit the ground and remain lethal to the local civilian population. The self-destruct fuse eliminates that threat."
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