IAF One of First to Sign Up for JSF
Jerusalem Post: Pentagon to sell fighter jets to Israel
The US Defense Department has approved the sale of 25 F-35 stealth-enabled Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) to the Israeli Air Force (IAF).
The deal is valued at $15.2 billion and includes an option to buy 50 additional bombers in the coming years. Each plane is estimated to cost between $70 million and $80m and will be equipped with F-135 or F-136 engines by the IAF.
A Pentagon official said Wednesday that the sale of the stealth jets to Israel was essential to American national interests and was meant to ensure that Israel maintained its qualitative edge over armies of neighboring countries.
A department in the Pentagon responsible for cooperation with foreign powers reportedly relayed a message to Congress announcing the approval of the deal, where it is expected to be confirmed within 30 days, before the November 4 US presidential elections.
Thomas J. Jurkowsky, spokesman for the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, which manufactures the fighter jets, reportedly said that the deal would be the first international sale of the F-35 and was a significant first step in expanding the group of countries using the fighter jet outside the US.
Israel's interest in the short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft was first reported in the Jerusalem Post in December 2007. The decision to consider the F-35B was made due to an understanding that in a time of war, Israeli bases and runways will be heavily targeted by enemy missiles.