JERUSALEM (AP) —
Israel will purchase 25 F-35 plane from the US, the Israeli Protection Ministry introduced Sunday, in a deal that will increase Israel’s arsenal of the stealth fighter jets by 50%.
The F-35 is the world’s most superior fighter jet, and Israel is the one nation within the Center East to fly them. The $3 billion buy, which will increase the Israeli fleet of F-35 jets from 50 to 75, is about to be finalized within the coming months, the ministry mentioned.
It mentioned the deal can be financed via American navy assist to Israel and that the maker of the airplane, Lockheed Martin, and the maker of its engine, Pratt & Whitney, had dedicated to involving Israeli corporations within the manufacturing course of.
“The brand new settlement will make sure the continuation of cooperation between American corporations and Israeli protection industries within the manufacturing of plane components,” the assertion learn.
The transfer to develop the Israeli arsenal comes at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. Israel, which considers Iran its biggest enemy, has beforehand used F-35 jets to shoot down Iranian drones, and has threatened to hold out a long-range strike on Iranian nuclear targets.
Israel accuses Iran of making an attempt to develop a nuclear weapon — a cost Iran denies — and is believed to be behind a string of assaults on Iranian nuclear specialists and services inside Iran through the years.
Israel, which has sought to counter Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria, performed an airstrike on the Syrian metropolis of Homs on Sunday, one in all a whole lot of strikes on government-controlled components of Syria in recent times.