Israel to help build stealth jet

The Jerusalem Post ^ | Jan. 26, 2003 | JANINE ZACHARIA

[yonif]

After months of tough negotiations, Israel and the US have agreed on a framework for Israeli involvement in development of the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter, the most lucrative military aircraft program ever.

A memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed in the coming days in Washington, possibly on Friday, an Israeli official said.

Some European partners in the program had resisted full Israeli participation in the development of the stealth fighter jet, which is expected to be functional by 2012. Israel last year was also late in applying for participation in the project, complicating the talks.

As a result, the US and Israel worked out a special bilateral security cooperation deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, Israel will be barred from partner discussion during development of the plane, but will have full input via the US, sources said. At the same time, the US has pledged to help Israel modify the plane to employ some of its own equipment, especially Israeli air-to-air missiles, satisfying a key Israeli demand.

An advanced Israeli helmet will be used on all the planes produced. The helmet, manufactured by Elbit, enables pilots to use eye motion to direct missile fire.

An Israeli official said Israel is "very pleased" with the bilateral arrangement.

The US and the UK will foot most of the bill for the project and there are a host of other countries taking part at different levels.

The agreement comes as the US and Israel continue to discuss a possible supplemental aid package for Israel linked to a war with Iraq.

Defense Ministry Director-General Amos Yaron and a delegation of Israeli officials met with their US counterparts on Friday and discussed Israel's request for an additional $4 billion in military assistance. Israel is also seeking $8b. in loan guarantees.

"They were good meetings," a US official said.

The US has set up committees to evaluate Israel's requests. The foreign military component is largely tied to preparations Israel has undertaken for a potential war with Iraq. The loan guarantees are to help Israel recover from its economic slowdown.

"We recognize the economic impact on Israel of the ongoing war on terrorism and regional stability, and are considering how the United States can contribute to continuing to assure its bright future," Sean McCormack, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said.

Yaron met with, among others, Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, and James Roche, the secretary of the US Air Force.

The aid Israel is requesting would be on top of its annual aid package, which this year totals $2.7 billion.

The US is also finalizing supplemental aid packages for allies Jordan and Turkey. Jordan is to receive $1b. in weaponry and military assistance. Turkey is reportedly expected to receive as much as $14b., most of it in the form of loan guarantees, in exchange for cooperation in a possible war.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

You know what this means. Right?

China will have a stealth jet in... maybe 5 years.

[Seselj]

This is good. Israel can contribute a lot to the JSF project, especially in the ECM/ECCM department.

[Seselj]

China will have a stealth jet in about 5 years anyways. The Russian 5th gen fighter project the PAK-FA should be stealthy and China is definitely going to be one of the first customers. Also, China has an indigenous stealth fighter project called the J-12.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

The Russian '5th whatever' is probably as effective as their previous generations. They killed ZERO American fighters in Iraq or, a few years before that, over Lebanon while theirs dropped like drunken flies.

But this is not what I implied. The implication was that Israel will happily sell our technology to China and, possilbly, now that you mentioned it, to Russia too.

[cynicom]

Will Israel sell them direct to China or will there be a "straw" buyer????

[Sparta]

The only reason why we've gone unscathed against Russian-built fighters is due to the horrible training of enemy crews and the destruction of their command and control abilities.

[Seselj]

The latest Russian fighter jets actually run circles around our own (with the exception of the F-22). The problem is, the Russians don't have the funds to enter them into service in significant amount.

You are right that American fighters have performed better than Russian fighter recently, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the aircraft. An Iraqi Mig-29 going against several F-16's or F-15's supported by AWACS and jamming equipment and flown by superior pilots is obviously going to lose. Similarly in Yugoslavia, the Serb Mig-29's were in extremely bad shape due to the Serbs not being able to get the parts necessary to keep them combat ready because of sanctions. They were sent up in the air with many of their systems malfunctioning. It's no surprise they were no match for the US planes.

Anwyays, to get back on topic, I don't think there is any danger of Israel selling China any military technology. As for previous reports of Israel selling technology to China, I believe those mostly rumors. Some have alleged that the Chinese indigenous J-10 is very similar to the Israeli Lavi, so there must have been a transfer of technology. There is no evidence to support this. In fact the J-10 is a lot larger and has some differences in airframe design.

[Words]

The Russian '5th whatever' is probably as effective as their previous generations. They killed ZERO American fighters in Iraq or, a few years before that, over Lebanon while theirs dropped like drunken flies.

Fighters don't down planes - pilots do...

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

No doubt. I can imagine some ace pilot, swiss army knife at the ready, downing scores of enemy planes.

[Words]

No doubt. I can imagine some ace pilot, swiss army knife at the ready, downing scores of enemy planes.

Nah. Swiss pilots already do that. Yours should deploy Bowie S1...

[July 4th]

Welcome to FR!