The Three Lies That Shot Down the Lavi, the World's Greatest Israeli Fighter Aircraft

Haaretz ^ | Sep 27, 2017 | Moshe Arens

[sukhoi-30mki]

Thirty years ago 26 government ministers had to decide the fate of the Lavi fighter – the world’s best fighter aircraft at the time and Israel’s crowning technological achievement. Most of the ministers had no idea of what made an aircraft fly or of the level of engineering expertise required to design and produce a modern fighter plane, probably the most complex engineering system produced by man. 

There was a lot of behind-the-scenes political manipulation that contributed to the result: a vote of 13-12 for cancelling the program, and one abstention. But three arguments presented to the government made an impression on many ministers, and no doubt brought about the final result. They were lies.

The Israel Air Force representative threw a bombshell on the cabinet table. He announced that a reduction was planned in the number of fighter aircraft in its force structure, and that therefore if the Lavi program were to be continued, the IAF would need no more than 80 such aircraft. The Lavi program had been based on a production run of 120 aircraft.

Now that was something all ministers could understand. You did not need a calculator to conclude that this drastic reduction would double or triple the cost of each Lavi, making it considerably more costly than the F-16 aircraft. There was only one problem here. In the following years the IAF acquired more than 200 F-16 aircraft. The projected downsizing was just not true.

The IAF representative had another surprise for the ministers. He told them that the force was planning in the future to acquire the U.S. Advanced Tactical Fighter, which was then in an initial period of development. It was to be an aircraft considerably more advanced than the Lavi, so who needs the Lavi?

[sukhoi-30mki]

Then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres sits in the mock-up cockpit of the Lavi fighter at the Israel Aerospace Industries headquarters in Lod. Wikimedia commons

read more: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.814489

[sukhoi-30mki]

[SubMareener]

Mrs. Submareener and I worked on a instrumentation radar program for Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) back in the 80’s. The IAI guys told us that in the Lavi Program they would always tell you the month it would be done, but never the year. ;-)

[buwaya]

In hindsight, not a bad decision. Hindsight is not always a good way to judge, as things could have gone differently, but still, events are events.

Israel has not actually required a higher-quality fighter than those it has obtained from the US. Its opponents air forces all declined very greatly in relative quality anyway. Israel has not faced a challenge in the air since the 1980’s to compare with what it was dealing with in the 1960’s-70’s.

The F-16 was cheaper than the Lavi and the higher numbers acquired may reflect lower acquisition prices and, also, may be due to a better budget situation going forward, since the time of the cancellation decision.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“The F-16 was cheaper than the Lavi and the higher numbers acquired may reflect lower acquisition prices and, also, may be due to a better budget situation going forward, since the time of the cancellation decision.”

It may also have been it was cheaper to buy the F16, rip out the avionics and put their own in rather than to build the Lavi.

[10mm]

Looks like the Lavi shares a lot of design ideas with the F-16XL.

[C19fan]

Lavi joining the Canadian Arrow and British TSR as one of those what if.

[SunkenCiv]

The Israeli use of close air support, particularly against enemy tanks, can now be accomplished with standoff missiles from fighters, and by drones, as well as the older, slower planes they used to use, along with choppers. I think Israel would have been well served to build the plane (hindsight), but they didn’t know in advance that they’d eventually probably have buyers in non-hostile states. The F-16 remains cheap, and its shorter range isn’t much of an issue given the operational radius Israel needs.

Why Russia and China Still Fear the F-16 Fighting Falcon
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russia-china-still-fear-the-f-16-fighting-falcon-21976

[katana]

It looks like the baby that would result from a “liaison” between an F16 and a Mirage 2000, single engine being a dominant gene. The canard wings would probably enhance maneuverability.

[Conan the Librarian]

I am far from an expert, but, wouldn’t the F-15 be the actually best Fighter?

I mean...they can actually fly with just one wing.

https://theaviationist.com/2014/09/15/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/

[Mr. Blond]

World’s greatest Israeli fighter...but not actually world’s greatest.

[myerson]

My cousin flew F15s, and let me sit in the cockpit once at Langley years ago. They can fly 90 degrees straight up.

[SJackson]

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