Wednesday, February 18, 2009

US Says No Israeli Systems Possible In F-35 / Israel Seeking Own Defense Systems For F-35s, To Little Avail

US Says No Israeli Systems Possible In F-35 / Israel Seeking Own Defense Systems For F-35s, To Little Avail US are getting jittery to involve Israeli's Defense Technology on F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) as it may not have hundred percent control on Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The US are hesitant to involve any country with advanced technology that could be transfered to unfriendly nations in situations like J-10 jet fighter which would make China a leading player in export of fighter planes to third world countries. (NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM - February 18, 2009: Israel has continued pushing for its own domestically designed systems to be installed onto the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters it is purchasing through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. However, according to reports in the Jerusalem Post, the lack of headway made by the Israelis may mean a postponement in the planned delivery date of 2014. The Israelis previously pushed for deliveries to begin earlier in 2012, but with the repercussions of the global financial crisis felt in Israel, and the unit cost of the F-35 increasing from $50-60 million to $100 million, they have now pushed the originally desired date back by two years. Israel seeks the right to install its own radars, munitions, electronic warfare and command-and-control systems on the jets but, so far, the Americans have refused. It is believed that the Obama administration will make a final decision on the issue in the next few months. In the past, the Israelis preceded an agreed jet fighter purchase with negotiations for installing their own systems beforehand. This was the case with the F-15I and F-16I fighters. That proved unsuccessful regarding the F-35s, as the U.S. made it clear to the Israeli Ministry of Defense that there would be no negotiations until an agreement to purchase the aircraft was announced. Although Israel has not placed an official order yet, it has indeed announced its intention to purchase the aircraft. An official request for the jet fighters was made through the Pentagon to Congress on September 29, 2008, making Israel the first customer outside the nine-nation partnership involved in the Joint Strike Fighter program. That request calls for an initial purchase of 25 F-35s in the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) version, with an option for the purchase of 50 additional F-35s in either the CTOL or short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) version at a later date.

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