Israel to make wings for F-35 warplanes

Associated Press ^ | Wed, Apr 24, 2013 | Associated Press

[haffast]

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel Aerospace Industries says it has signed a long-term contract with U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin to produce wings for the F-35 next-generation fighter jet.

The state-owned company said Tuesday the contract is for 10 to 15 years and could generate up to $2.5 billion in sales. It says the wings will be made at an Israeli facility that already produces wings for Lockheed's F-16 warplane.

The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, with an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. The program aims to replace a wide range of existing aircraft for the U.S. and several partner countries.

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[haffast]

???? Is the "Pentagon's most expensive weapons program" just another way to give aid to our allies?

[JohnPDuncan]

The military industrial complex just keeps on going.

And the cost of the F-35 is closer to 1 trillion and it doesn’t even work and apparently has trouble refeuling

Total failure.

But someone’s getting rich.

[Colorado Doug]

Okay, I like Israel just fine BUT, we need to be making our own military components. There are numerous reasons to make them ourselves.

[Hardraade]

True enough. But the way things are going, you’re going to have half of them made by China and the other half made by Arabs.