RAMALLAH: Israel is getting nearer to a deal with the United States for the purchase of the F-35 fighter jets, after the Defense Ministry and the Pentagon recently reached understandings on a number of IAF demands to integrate Israeli technology into the plane, a report said yesterday.
The daily Jerusalem Post said that the apparent breakthrough was made following a series of visits to Washington by Israel Air Force (IAF) officers. Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with top officials from Lockheed Martin — the F-35 manufacturer — on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, the report added.
Also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the F-35 will be one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world and will enable Israel to phase out some of its older F-15 and F-16 models.
The report cited Israeli Army officers as saying that the Defense Ministry and Pentagon have reached understandings on most of the major issues at the core of disagreement between the parties.
The IAF demands focused on three issues — the integration of Israeli electronic warfare systems into the plane, the integration of Israeli communication systems, and the ability to independently maintain the plane in the event of a technical or structural problem.
According to top officials involved in the deal, the Americans have given their consent and will grant Israel independent maintenance capabilities.
One of the US’ main concerns regarding the installation of Israeli systems was that it would require configurations to the jet’s internal computer system and expose top-secret technology to Israel.
In the recent round of talks, however, the Israeli side presented the Americans with a proposal of how to bypass the computer mainframe when installing the systems. The sides have yet to agree on a final price. Israel has argued that due to operational requirements, it needs to have the ability to repair damaged or broken computer systems in “real time” and cannot wait for a computer system to be sent to Europe for repairs in the middle of a war.
