Tel Aviv: A day after reports that the United States had found a problem in the ejection seats of the Lockheed Martin F-35, the Israel Air Force halted the training of this type. Operational missions continue after each system is checked by technicians.
After doing an evaluation on the situation on Saturday, July 30 night, Air Force commander Maj. General Tomer Bar made the decision to have all 33 F-35 in service checked before approved to fly again. According to a statement released by the Israel Defence Forces, Bar stressed that the inspections must be done in a stringent and thorough manner in order to return the fleet to full competence while keeping a high safety standard. Despite the assessment, F-35 operational activity is anticipated to continue. According to the IDF, Bar would allow such usage on a case-by-case basis.
The action was taken in response to the US Air Force’s announcement on Friday, July 29 that its F-35 aircraft would be temporarily grounded due to a fault with the cartridges used to blast out the ejector seats in an emergency. Changes that were made on the Israel Air Force (IAF) F-35 to make it more capable in a possible attack on Iran have been tested recently in the month long exercise that involved all the arms of the Israeli defence force (IDF).
According to Israeli news website Walla, one of the capabilities that was tested for the first time was an extended flight of the F-35 equipped without the need for aerial refuelling. No details were given about this capability but sources here said that they it was developed by the flight test centre of the IAF with one of the Israeli industries. During the exercise the F-35 were armed among other weapons systems, a locally made bomb weighing 1000 kgs that was carried in the weapons bay of the F-35.The bomb was developed by one of the Israeli defence companies and according to the defence sources has an impressive penetration capability based on technology that was prove on other weapon systems developed in Israel.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
