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Posted on 06/07/2025 10:44:46 AM PDT by george76
Over the years, Israel has requested the chance to become the F-22 Raptor’s sole foreign operator.
While the F-35 Lightning II fighter is often considered to be the best of its kind in service today, another American-made fifth-generation jet, the F-22 Raptor, may have surpassed it. The older F-22 Raptor features all the latest and greatest features. The platform’s unmatched stealth, impressive speed, and sophisticated avionics and sensors makes the F-22 arguably the most coveted fighter series across the globe. Israel is perhaps the Raptor’s biggest fan. Surrounded by hostile adversaries and currently embroiled in a multi-front war against Iran, Israel relies heavily on its existing fleet of American-made jets to secure its borders and to launch offensive operations alike. Over the years, Israel has requested the chance to become the Raptor’s sole foreign operator on several occasions. However, the United States has yet to grant its Middle East ally with this capability and likely never will.
An Overview of the F-22 Raptor..
When the Raptor was introduced to service in the early 2000s, the cutting-edge platform was meant to replace the US Air Force’s F-15 Eagle platform and become the American military’s newest air superiority fighter. The F-22 concept was derived from the service’s Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program initiated during the 1980s, which aimed to create formidable counters to the former Soviet Union’s advancing fighter fleet, including the Sukhoi Su-27 and the Mikoyan MiG-29. Lockheed Martin would become the prime contractor of the platform, in collaboration with Boeing and Pratt & Whitney. The jet may have suffered from a protracted development phase and initial operational setbacks, but the roughly 185 airframes that remain in service today are top tier.
In terms of stealth and speed, the F-22 is certainly unmatched when it comes to its contemporaries. The Raptors reduced radar cross-section and twin thrust-vectoring F110-PW-100 turbofan engines enable the platform to outpace other fifth-generation near peers. Notably, the F-22 is considered to be more stealthy and faster than the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The jet series can travel at speeds in excess of Mach 1.8 (times the speed of sound) without using its afterburners. Armament-wise, the Raptor is also difficult to beat. The jet features three internal weapons bays which can store a variety of weapons, including two Aim-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and six Aim-120 AMRAAM radar-guided air-to-air missiles. Additionally, the F-22 can be fitted with two AIM-120 AMRAAM and two GBU-32 JDAM bombs in its center weapons bay.
Why Israel Won’t Acquire the F-22 Raptor Anytime Soon..
Considering these impressive specs and capabilities, Israel’s desire to fly the F-22 makes sense. However, US legislation ensures that Israel and all other American allies will never obtain the fighter series, or more specifically, the technology it uses. Congress voted to explicitly forbid the sale of the F-22 in the early 1990s, stating that “None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to approve or license the sale of F-22 advanced tactical fighters to any foreign government.” In order to ensure the Raptor and its components don’t end up in the hands of adversaries, its sale to other nations should remain prohibited.
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I don’t believe the US can make any more anyway.
Israel doesn’t really face any peer-level fighter jets, so they would have limited necessity.
Israel is talking with India about a joint nexgen fighter-bomber project.
Israel: "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea..."
The planes are designed to only fly on Saturday.
The tooling and production line are gone. Unless they bought some used from the USAF, it can’t happen without a HUGE retooling effort.
Yeah, all the guys in your trailer park told you.
Or is it your parents’ basement?
👆👆👆👆👆💯👆👆👆👆👆
> The jews are not our friends. <
The Jews? I hope that was just a misstatement on your part. Because your complaint is with the state of Israel. And you might be right.
But your target really shouldn’t be Jews as a whole.
Like I said, I hope that was just an innocent misstatement on your part.
Irrational hatred of the Jews is evidence that they are God’s chosen people and that the Bible is true.
In a related topic, the US Airforce is considering getting rid of several airframe types. Last I saw on this list was the A-10, F-15 and the B1. The reason is, it costs a lot in terms of logistics (parts), training, keeping old production up and running, repair etc. Even though the B1 offers features that are not offered in other bombers the extra cost subtracts from the money available for other platforms and future platforms. Actually, the cost of the planes is not the major cost of keeping them flying. It’s all the other stuff. The problem with retiring anything, is someone’s ox gets gored. Anything the government buys from toilet paper to spacecraft develops a self-interested lobby. And to get anything through Congress takes a certain number of votes. If the president wants a bill to do something in the Antarctic you can bet the A-10, F-15 and B1 lobby will be bartering their votes based on keeping their particular sacred cow in the inventory.
Most of the US aid to Israel-—approximately $4. billion a year which greatly increases in Democrat election years—— is provided as grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
In October 2023, we learned Israel had nearly six hundred Foreign Military Financing (FMF) cases, totaling around $24 billion owed to US taxpayers.
Israel has also historically used a portion of its FMF aid to buy equipment
from irs own Israeli defense firms—a benefit not granted to other recipients of U.S. military aid.
US aid reportedly accounts for some 15 percent of Israel’s defense budget. Israel, like many other countries, also buys U.S. military products outside of the Foreign Military Financing program.
In other instances, when Israel’s borrowed US funds came due,
the powerful Israeli lobby Most of the US aid to Israel-—approximately $3.3 billion a year-—is provided as grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
In October 2023, the Joe Biden administration said Israel had nearly six hundred active Foreign Military Financing (FMF) cases, totalling around $24 billion.
Israel has also historically been permitted to use a portion of its FMF aid to buy equipment
from its own Israeli defense firms—a benefit not granted to other recipients of U.S. military aid.
US aid reportedly accounts for some 15 percent of Israel’s defense budget. Israel, like many other countries, also buys U.S. military products outside of the Foreign Military Financing program.
Um no it was not a mistake on his part. Look at his posting history.
https://freerepublic.com/tag/by:igottherope/index?tab=comments;brevity=full;options=no-change
But i’m supposed to answer jim’s calls for donations to FR when he allows this on his site????? Nope. FR ain’t getting a dime from me until he cleans up this mess
Maybe.
Or maybe losers need someone to blame for their poor life choices, and given that such losers are generally also lazy and stupid, pick Jews to blame for the fact they are failures at life as that is the lazy choice.
Oh liz strikes again
China is Israel’s 2nd largest trading partner,
with total trade value reaching a whopping $24.45 billion.
BACKSTORY-—Trump and Biden restricted sensitive technological exports to China. As a result, China turned to cooperative Israel. China’s direct investment in Israel’s IT industry, especially in chips and semiconductors, now has increased.
Speaking before a gathering of business people from both countries, the Israeli prime minister encouraged China “to assume its rightful place… on the world stage. We are your perfect junior partner for that effort,” Netanyahu added. “…I believe this is a marriage made in heaven.”
In 2017, Israeli PM Netanyahu said China accounts for one-third of the investment in Israeli high technology, which includes US military technology the US shares w/ Israel, its strongest ally. In the ’90s, Israel sold military equipment and technologies to China, including the Harpy missile system.
This incident chilled relations between the United States and Israel, with Israel being suspended from its status as Security Cooperative Participant in the Joint Strike Fighter program. However, on 6 November 2005, Israel stated that it has been re-admitted into the program.
The US had to pressure Israel to stop sharing US military technology w/ China. Yet Israel still doesn’t restrict China from acquiring dual-usage technologies that could have military implications against the US.
A succession of US administrations warned Israel about its growing tie with China, sharing concern about China using Israel as a backdoor to access sensitive technologies from the US.
The most vocal objection to Sino-Israeli ties came from the Trump administration. When former Secy of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel in 2019, he warned Israelis that the CCP “engages in spying through its commercial state-owned enterprises and presents risk through its technology systems. Pompeo said China’s actions posed a risk.
Unfortunately, Israel largely brushed aside the warnings. Like many other countries, China’s massive market has enticed Israel. Plus, the Israeli government hopes China’s good relationships with Arab nations may help Israel.
Netanyahu was working on a Sino-Israeli free trade agreement and planned to visit China. But China’s siding w/ Hamas alerted Israel’s leaders to the reality that Communist China’s relationship with Israel is purely transactional.
You mean everything except for what the Clinton’s, Obama, Biden, Swalwell and the other democrats sold/gave them?
Trump is ALWAYS in-charge. An AI video of his Gaza plans features Israel’s Netanyahu serenely sipping a cocktail on the inviting “Gaza beach.”
A most shocking finding was a NYPost report that a majority of American Muslims don’t oppose Trump’s plan to transform the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” A whopping 84% of Democrats opposed it.
I love how you morons out yourselves on Saturdays when 90% of our Jewish posters are gone.l and the mods are on light duty.
So brave.
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