In its latest issue, “Defense News” reports that senior Ministry of Defense officials and Israel Air Force (IAF) commanders are considering alternatives to the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), if Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz is unable to persuade the Pentagon to resume Israeli participation in the program.
The US suspended Israeli participation in the JSF program, following the dispute over Israel’s sale of Phalcon AWACS planes to China. Although the dispute was settled, and Israel has agreed to coordinate with the US arms sales to third countries, the ban on Israeli participation in the JSF program is still in place, and is apparently due to other reasons.
Mofaz will visit Washington in early November for talks with US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. “Defense News” reports that Mofaz will press the US to renew strategic cooperation with Israel and allow it to again participate in the design of the JSF.
Israel’s military establishment fully agrees that the original plan to buy 100 customized F-35s over the next decade is the preferred option for the IAF’s future operational capabilities. But uncertainty over Israel’s participation in the program has led defense officials to consider other options, including leapfrogging the F-35 fifth-generation fighter for the IAF, and going onto the next level: an unmanned air combat vehicle (UCAV). Another option raised by low-level defense establishment officials is for Israel to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon. However, senior Ministry of Defense and IDF officials reject this option for financial, political and operational reasons.
For decades, Israel has financed large weapons procurements with US military aid, and Israeli officials say that buying non-US combat aircraft is an idea that won’t fly.
Officials in the Ministry of Defense and defense industry warn that if US sanctions against Israel persist, Israel will have to more seriously consider an option to the JSF, especially in view of the fact that the US has prevented exchanges of technological information with Israel in the JSF design for over a year. “Defense News” says that this ban has apparently caused serious delays in essential Israeli preparations designed to ensure the inclusion of Israeli-designed weapons, electronic warfare and other subsystems in the JSF.
If Israel does not rejoin the JSF program within weeks, it will miss the chance to contribute inputs in the plane’s design, which will enter a critical phase in February 2006. Without Israeli inputs, Israel will have to spend billions of dollars more to meet IAF specifications in subsequent deliveries.
“We all hope that Mofaz and Rumsfeld can reach an arrangement before the window of opportunity is closed to Israel,” a senior IDF Plans and Policy Directorate officer told “Defense News”. “If, over the next ten, twenty, or even forty years, we have to deal with a combat plane that isn’t optimalized for our needs, and we can’t install our unique weapons and subsystems, we’ll have to review our investment strategy in air power procurements.”
Israel Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon told “Globes” in response that there would be a favorable solution to the problem of US-Israeli strategic relations. Mofaz’s spokesperson said, “There are expectations in Jerusalem that the previous situation will be restored sooner, rather than later.”
In some respects, it is already too late. Even if Rumsfeld agrees to Israel’s request to rejoin the JSF program, the IAF will probably not see initial deliveries before 2015-16. If deliveries are delayed beyond 2019 or 2020, the IAF will have to design upgrades to the F-15I, its current combat mainstay, or possibly buy more of this model.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 26, 2005