The Lockheed Martin staffers were far from bereft of superlatives for their F-35 when they unveiled the first of 33 to be delivered to Israel.
They said it was the first fifth-generation warplane; that it was lethal and swift and will beat any radar or weapons system aimed in its direction; that it is trailblazing in its real time data sharing and processing capabilities; that its cockpit was covered with touchscreen controls; that it was equipped with the most powerful and comprehensive sensor array ever installed in a warplane in the history of combat aviation; that a pilot upgrading from an F-16 to an F-35 will undergo the same experiential transformation as a consumer switching from an ordinary cell phone to an iPhone 6.
And they were just getting started.
The overwhelming excitement at the Lockheed Martin facility in Forth Worth, Texas was effervescent ahead of the unveiling ceremony for the first Israeli Air Force stealth fighter to roll off the production line.
However, the plane will arrive at the Nevatim airbase in the Negev - along with a second F-35 - only in December. It will remain in the US undergoing tests and trials to assure the complicated machinery behind its sensors, radar, and powerful Pratt & Whitney engine are all working properly.
Goal: 75 warplanes
When the state-of-the-art jets land in Israel, they will be retrofitted by the IAF with specialized systems developed by Israeli defense companies. These systems will set the Israeli fighters apart from all the other F-35s used by the US air force and future operators.
Meanwhile, the IAF has already named its newest class the “Adir” and despite its hefty price tag is hoping to have no fewer than three squadrons with 25 planes apiece. The IDF Chief of Staff said on Wednesday that he supported the purchase of 17 additional jets. The US administration, for its part, has agreed on the potential sale of 75 F-35s to Israel; the remaining variable is funding.
And it will take a great deal of funding with each warplane costing $120 million even after a significant reduction of more than 55% over the many years of its development.
Still, the overall deal remains the largest arms transaction in Israeli history. In its first round in 2010, Israel ordered 19 stealth fighters for $2.7 billion. In the second round in 2014, it ordered 14 more for a similar sum. In the past, Lockheed Martin officials said Israeli defense companies would reap $4.3 billion in joint venture agreements if Israel acquired 75 of the fifth-generation planes.
By the end of last year, Lockheed Martin signed six deals with Israeli companies for joint ventures worth $800 million: the helmets needed by each F-35 pilot will be manufactured by Elbit; the wings for the jets will be made by Israel Aerospace Industries; the communications, guidance, and identification modules are from Tadiran; and several of the complex components needed to build the chassis are made by Elbit subsidiary Cyclone.
And those are only a few examples.
60 training hours
Before this technological marvel graces the blue skies of Israel, Israeli pilots need to learn how to fly it first. In the past few weeks, a group of five select combat pilots left to train in the US. They will first experience the jet through advanced simulators built by Lockheed Martin to familiarize pilots. The company claims experienced combat pilots will only require 60 training hours in the simulator before making a seamless transition to the shiny new fighter.
The simplicity is a product of the user-friendly operating system on the warplane; it offers pilots a variety of touchscreens and some of its modules can even receive verbal input. And the simulator built by Lockheed is a one-to-one recreation of the actual cockpit.
The simulator will also arrive in Israel in the second half of 2017. And it will be necessary because, unlike many other combat planes which offer dual-seat configurations, the F-35 is a single-seat fighter. Any pilot chosen to fly the jet will be up there alone in the sky without the comfort of an instructor sitting safely behind to keep an eye out.
The group of five pilots will instruct the rest of the pilots selected by the IAF to fly the Adir jets received over the next few years. Meanwhile, dozens of crew members are already in the US learning how to maintain the new jet.
As part of the understandings reached between the US and Israeli defense establishments, the maintenance of the Israeli stealth fighters will be undertaken domestically. For its other clients, Lockheed Martin will build regional maintenance centers to service the planes of other air forces.
But, due to the classified systems installed on the Israeli variant, the Adir jets will only cross the border for operational purposes. The IAF insisted on the condition and the Americans relented.
Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman was in Texas for the unveiling ceremony in his first trip in the new role. Lockheed Martin also invited a delegation of Israeli military correspondents to see their expensive curiosity of a warplane up close.
The US defense giant, seeking to sell more jets to Israel, is naturally hoping to sway both decision-makers and the general public in favor of the F-35 even as the program is publicly crucified by many, including the US congress, which recently discussed a report detailing nearly a 1,000 incidents relating to the company’s new flagship product.
The report covered a variety of errors: it listed defects with the radar systems and criticized the low-payload needed to maintain its stealth capabilities, a mere 8,200 kilograms.
Defects were treated
To maintain that precious stealth capability, the F-35 must carry its weapons payload within its wings instead of on them. The F-35 can still carry bombs and missiles on its wings but at the cost of the stealth capability sorely needed for theaters with advanced air defenses.
Lockheed Martin officials, however, continue to broadcast the message that there is nothing to fear: they say bugs are inherent in any advanced weapons technology; that bugs were present in other fighter planes; that the defects were treated and software updated to deal with future faults; and, most importantly, that the US air force is operating the new jet and is in the midst of integrating hundreds of them.
Israeli Air Force officials are also not concerned by the criticisms. They see the F-35 as part of a 40-year relationship that will be updated and evolved along the way.
Regardless, the F-35 is the only fifth-generation jet available and Israel cannot afford to be left behind even if the fourth-generation jets like the F-16 and F-15 are still supplying the goods for now. The retrofitting of these jets can only do so much with each passing decade.
Considering most Middle Eastern countries are armed head-to-toe, the Israeli Air Force sees the F-35 as part of a comprehensive defense solution. An expensive solution, sure, but air superiority doesn’t come cheap.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 23, 2016
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