Tel Aviv: Lockheed Martin has delivered three more F-35 fighter jets to the State of Israel, as part of a foreign military sale (FMS) deal. The fighters have landed in Nevatim AFB and will join the 39 already based in Israel, including the special test aircraft based in Tel-Nof AFB.
The State of Israel was the first in the world to choose the F-35 as part of a foreign military sale (FMS) deal with the US administration when it signed the Letter of Agreement (LOA) in October 2010. As of now, Israel has ordered a total of 75 F-35’s.
The Israeli Air Force announced operational capability for the F-35 aircraft in December 2017, thus marking the completion of the comprehensive processes for training, coaching, and assimilating the aircraft and their crews at the Nevatim Air Force Base. Since then, the aircraft has been in full operational service, and the current procurement process will continue in the coming years until the completion of all the aircraft purchased.
As of early March, 1,130 F-35s worldwide had accumulated more than one million cumulative flight hours. The F-35s operate from 36 bases and 12 aircraft carriers in X countries around the world. Over 2,870 pilots and 17,840 maintenance personnel have been trained so far.
Ten nations operate the F-35 on home soil, 13 services have declared initial operational capability, and eight services have employed the aircraft in operational missions supporting national defence strategies around the globe.
Thirteen services operators have declared the initial operational capability (IOC) of the aircraft; X of them announced activation in combat-operational activity.
-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
