Second installment of F-35s delivered to Israel

by WorldTribune Staff, April 24, 2017

Israel took delivery of three more F-35 “Adir” stealth fighter jets on April 23.

Israel’s newest F-35 stealth fighter jets en route to Israel. / IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

The three F-35s, the second installment of a total of 50 that Israel will receive by 2020, landed at Nevatime Air Base in southern Israel. Two F-35s were delivered to Israel in December.

Senior Israeli officials have said the F-35 will provide complete air superiority in the region for the next 40 years.

While the Israeli Air Force’s F-35 squadron is not yet operational, at least 3 of the 5 stealth fighters jets will make their debut performance in the traditional Independence Day flyover on May 1, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The Israeli F-35s, built in the U.S. by Lockheed Martin, have components built by Israeli companies – including Israel Aerospace Industries, which produced the outer wings, Elbit Systems- Cyclone, which built the center fuselage composite components, and Elbit Systems Ltd, which manufactured the pilots’ helmets.

In a welcoming ceremony held for the first two planes delivered in December, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said that the “the aircraft will change the rules of the game. Our enemies already know that it’s not worthwhile to harm Israel.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s goal “is to obtain supremacy in every theater: in the air, in the sea, on the ground and in the cyber world. Israel is taking off to new heights, and when our pilots in the Adir jets will fly high, we will watch them with pride.”

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