Israel Wants F-35 Now, But It's Not Perfect
Posted by David A. Fulghum at 12/13/2007 7:48 AM
Israel needs the F-35 ASAP, but it doesn’t think the aircraft is perfect by any means. Weaknesses include a one-man cockpit, the perishability of its stealth and the need to use Israeli-specific equipment. The IAF’s plan is to get more than 100 F-35s the minute they are available. What will be inside is still a question.
The F-35 AA-1 resumes flight testing last week in Fort Worth, Texas. Credit: Lockheed Martin
“Israel has a very unique requirement, it doesn’t operate in a coalition [and it has a] different kind of strategic relationship to the U.S. than the other F-35 partners,” says Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin’s vice president and general manager for the F-35. However, he says the overseas release of the first export aircraft will be no sooner than 2014.
Israeli’s ambition to integrate indigenous weaponry also is part of the problem. The weapons roadmap for the Block 1 through Block 3 F-35 standards has already been drawn up with no Israeli weaponry on the list.
Moreover, there is pressure to cut weapons from the process rather than add them. Israel undoubtedly will want its F-35s to carry Rafael Python 5 air-to-air missile as well as the Rafael Spice family of precision-guided weapons.
Furthermore, an influential retired IAF Force general says total sales will be limited by the JSF’s disadvantages. He points to its overdependence on stealth, a single crewman and what could be proprietary U.S. avionics.
“Eventually somebody will come up with a way to detect it,” the general says. “A stealthy configuration also means you can’t carry additional weaponry on the exterior. The weapons system is more important than stealth. Israel will have F-35s, but not as many as we once thought.”
Smaller numbers won’t detract from its deterrence value, the retired general concedes. But, he worries that in as little as five years, the JSF will start showing its limitations.
One of those limitations is its one-person crew. As a result, “We can’t operate the F-35 by itself,” the retired general says. “We really need two-seaters with one person concentrating on flying the aircraft and someone else focused on the strike mission. One man can’t take advantage of all the options” particularly since JSF capabilities will include jamming, information warfare and network attack.
Tied closely to the F-35 procurement is whether to upgrade the F-15s and F-16s, particularly with new active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar that offer more range, small-target detection and broad band communications. However, the advanced radars are expensive.
“Do we intend to let the F-15s fly more years than we had planned?” the IAF official says. “It’s on the table. I intend to do the same with the F-16s. We have the second largest fleet in the world. With the right investment in avionics upgrades, they can be relevant for years.”
The twist to IAF planning will be that not every aircraft will have the full package of upgrades. Instead, more advanced aircraft will feed target information to the others. “For the future, the idea is to work as a group,” the IAF official says. “That allows you to do [advanced operations] without investing in each aircraft. If we have some of the best of the best technology, we can spread it to the other platforms, weapons and systems. You upgrade the group via the network.”
With reporting by Robert Wall in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and Douglas Barrie in Fort Worth.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs...d-0d3b1c3ae3b0
¿Tal vez se decanten por Typhones?
(Ya se que es imposible porque la pasta que les da EEUU es para comprar material americano, pero por soñar xD).
; bueno claro que se trata de un sueño, ya que desde el "embargo" con Israël decidido por el presidente De Gaulle en el año 1967, y visto el trato "pro-arabe" de Francia acerca de los asuntos del oriente-medio, no quieren comprar equipos franceses y lo entiendo muy bién de su parte.
