Israel's Joint Strike Fighter Squadron delayed

By Luca Bonsignore

Israel’s joining the exclusive family of F-35 Lightning II operators seems to be delayed once again due to major unresolved issues between the Israeli government and the US Department of Defense.

In July 2009 the Israeli Air Force (IAF) submitted an official Letter of Request (LoR) to the US for the procurement of 25 Lockheed Martin F-35As which will form the IAF’s first Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) squadron. Besides this initial batch, Israel also holds an option for 50 additional aircraft that would begin replacing the oldest part of its fleet of F-15s and F-16s.

However, the proposed deal has been highly controversial since the very start over a core issue that has never been resolved and is now flaring up again. Israel originally demanded access to the aircraft’s source codes in order to independently integrate its own weapons and electronics systems, which the Pentagon flatly refuses (and which will not be granted to any member of the JSF international programme, not even to Level 1 partner Great Britain). The IAF now seems to have given up the idea of integrating major Israeli-made items, but they still insist on the possibility for its own reprogramming of the aircraft's electronic warfare (EW) equipment. According to US officials, however, such a capability is not planned and is not policy-compliant. The same applies to the Israeli wish to independently maintain the jet in the event of technical or structural problems.

Later and double the price

Discussions are effectively on hold right now, which might result in deliveries to Israel being delayed. The IAF has been planning on first deliveries in 2014, which is strictly dependent upon a contract being signed in early 2010, at the latest, with long-lead funding in 2011 and full funding for the first batch during 2012. According to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, this time table is no longer considered feasible since Israeli MoD officials declared their unwillingness to sign a contract under the present conditions. Of course, any delay in the first batch deliveries would slow down the entire plan.

Another unresolved issue is the price of the aircraft. The JSF, in its standard A version, is estimated to cost $100 million per aircraft. However, the Israeli version of the F-35A would have some unique state-of-the-art modifications, thus including additional non-recurring development costs. This leads the Pentagon to propose $200 million per aircraft for the first batch, more than twice what the Israelis had reportedly anticipated. According to some sources, Tel Aviv is now asking for the JSF system programme office to share the costs for such modifications, since they will benefit all JSF users.

“We understand and appreciate American sensitivities and have adjusted our expectations of this aircraft accordingly. But the gap is still large, the price is still too high,” Defense News quoted Pinchas Buchris, director-general of Israel's MoD as saying. “It’s unreasonable to expect us to compromise on critical operational needs.”

Israel may reconsider purchase numbers

However, the US policy seems to be clear: Either you take exactly what everybody is getting or you pay for the changes. A company spokesman justifies the higher cost by saying they will not only cover the development, modification and integration of unique items, but also testing and certifications.

Since the price has more than doubled over earlier anticipations, the Israeli MoD would have to reconsider the number of aircraft it would be able to purchase, sources in Tel Aviv said. The Ministry of Defence said that the entire purchase of 75 aircraft should not cost more than $9 billion, with a maximum of $3 billion for the first 25 aircraft. In the July foreign military sale (FMS) announcement, the US estimated the deal to be worth $15.2 billion since the second batch will include some aircraft in the more expensive STOVL (short take-off, vertical landing) F-35B configuration.

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