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Israel to regain air dominance as touchdown of F-35 jets nears

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It’s two weeks to the touchdown of the world’s most advanced fighter jet in Israel.
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Adir's First Flight in Fort Worth, Texas. (photo credit:LOCKHEED MARTIN AERONAUTICS/ LIZ LUTZ)

Due to touch down at the Nevatim air force base near Beersheba in two weeks, the F-35, known in Israel as the Adir, meaning “awesome” or “mighty,” is a fifth-generation stealth fighter jet equipped with the latest technology expected to give Israel total air dominance in the Middle East for at least the next 40 years.

Israeli Air Force officers said the F-35 would allow Israel to attack places that it has not been capable of attacking in the past.

“The future is here,” one senior IAF officer told reporters. "The F-35 will allow the Air Force to carry out missions that its current aircraft are unable to do today. In the quantity and quality, depth into enemy territory, in threat-filled areas, in the amount of missions, with less manpower in comparison to today. This is groundbreaking because it improves the efficiency of our current forces and allows us to carry out more missions simultaneously. In today's era of multiple fronts, it is a significant addition.”

According to senior Israeli officers as well as senior US officials, the jet defined by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman as “the most advanced in the world and the best for safeguarding Israel’s aerial superiority,” is the ultimate stealth fighter jet, able to evade enemy radar, including the Russian-made S-300 missile defense system deployed in Syria and near Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. With close air-support capabilities and a massive array of sensors, F-35 pilots have an unparalleled access to information while in the air.

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The F-35 fighter jet plane, also known as the 'Adir,' on the Tarmac at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. Credit: ALEXANDER H. GROVES/Lockheed Martin

The Adir will be flown from the US to Israel by American pilots and the following day, two of the six Israeli pilots who trained in the US will take command of the new jet, which according to the Adir squadron commander, “is a quantum leap in relation to the combat aircraft we have today.”

“We have bought the F-35 in order to protect the state of Israel and to open new fields in the country's security. I am certain that we'll know how to use it in any place we need, and it doesn't matter where it will be,” the squadron commander said. "We all understand that we bought this plane in order to attack in places that we are not always able to attack in, and this plane knows how to do it perfectly. That is our objective in receiving this plane.”

The five Israeli combat pilots chosen for the future squadron were “hand-picked” by the commander of the squadron and underwent special training at the Luke airbase in Arizona where they trained alongside pilots from several countries who will also acquire the F-35.

“I returned two weeks ago from four months of training on the Adir plane in The United States,” said the squadron commander, adding that “together with a team of more pilots and officers for the simulator, we went through very advanced and very comprehensive training to know how to fly the Adir.”

Israel is the first country to receive the F-35 outside the United States and once the jets land in Israel, they will not leave the country except for combat missions. According to senior IAF officers, all maintenance of the jet will be done in Israel. Other countries which purchased the aircraft will have their F-35s undergo maintenance at regional centers, often outside their own borders.

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The Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet plane in a test flight. Credit: LOCKHEED MARTIN AERONAUTICS/ LIZ LUTZ

The jet, called a “superpower of information” by the squadron commander, was designed to Israel’s own specifications and will be embedded with Israeli-made electronic warfare pods as well as Israeli weaponry, all set to be installed once the plane is in Israel.

Built in the United States by Lockheed Martin, the Israeli F-35s have components built by Israeli companies, including Israel Aerospace Industries who produced the outer wings, Elbit System-Cyclone that built the center fuselage composite components and Elbit Systems Ltd which manufactured the helmets worn by the pilots.

The pilot’s helmet, a joint venture between Israel’s Elbit Systems and Rockwell Collins, provides “critical flight information to the pilot throughout the entire mission,” according to a statement by Elbit, which added that the helmet “delivers video imagery in day or night conditions, combined with precision symbology, to give the pilot unprecedented situational awareness and tactical capability.”

The plane’s cockpit, including all tactical and operational systems, are all virtual, and a voice-recognition system allows the pilot to focus on tasks on hand, such as identifying targets.

Despite the excitement of the new jet, the F-35 is a controversial plane with a long series of failures, delays and an expensive price tag of close to $100 million per plane. In September, the US air force announced that it was grounding the jet a mere two months after they were declared combat ready due to flaws in the plane’s coolant system. Eight of the planes grounded by the USAF belong to Israel.

Nonetheless, Israel is still said to be considering acquiring the F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing jets. According to Lockheed Martin, the B variant “is designed to operate from austere bases and a range of air-capable ships near frontline combat zones. It can also take off and land conventionally from longer runways on major bases.” This could be crucial at times of war when air force bases - and particularly runways - will likely be hit by enemy missiles and rockets.

On Sunday, the security cabinet decided unanimously to purchase an additional 17 F-35s, bringing the number of the advanced jets in the Israeli Air Force to 50.


http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Is...s-countdown-to-touchdown-of-F-35-nears-473983

@Penguin @500 @Natan @Archdemon @GBU-28 @F-15I @mike2000 is back @Blue Marlin @Mountain Jew @Beny Karachun @Adir-M @Desertfalcon @C130 @F-22Raptor
 
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Israeli technology prevails over the Arabs again. 5 million Jews gain upper hand over 200 million A-rabs ....


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Any chance it will be challenged by Rafales of neighbouring countries?
Rafael can't challenge this aircraft , and there's no scenario those two will meet in the near future
 
Israel will have air superiority no matter what, uncle sam will make sure it does.
No other airforce in the middle east is half as good as the israeli air force, this is the ground reality.
 
Wow, israel is getting 2nd best stealth fighter in the world.It will make Israel more stronger and make it more offensive against any threat arising form any region. Israel is much safer now.
 
Israel to regain air dominance? When was it lost?
It is a truism that 'Israel has absolute air dominance over Middle East'. It is also a truism that 'Israel will have air dominance as long as USAF has absolute air dominance'.

Anybody with IQ north side of 70 can see that Israeli Air force is United States auxillary like those Syrian Auxillary legions guarding the northern marches of the Roman Britain under Emperor Hadrian.
 
8 Russian fighters in Latakia dont challenge IAF in any way.
My comment was headed toward Russian air defenses, not to Russian's fighters.
I don't know how much they're challenging the IAF, but according to the IAF it does change the free hand it had few year back
 

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