Tel Aviv. Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) second F-35 (ADIR) squadron has been declared operational.
Squadron 116, the “Lions of the South”, went through a lengthy process during which its personnel gained experience in various fields, from defining training processes to combat theories.
For the past six months, the squadron’s soldiers and officers were facing various scenarios that they had to deal with, as part of their preparation for the operational competence audit conducted last week. The competence audit provides an official stamp of the 116th Squadron’s operational capability for carrying out all the missions of F-35.
Squadron 140 “The Golden Eagle” was declared operational in the end of 2017. The IAF has so far received 24 of the 50 F-35 that are included in the signed contract. On November 3 additional F-35 will be delivered.
Last month the IAF’s F-35 special test aircraft arrived in Israel. Soon this aircraft will be the basis for a planned process of upgrading the IAF’s F-35 aimed at making them the main target supplier for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The special test aircraft was officially delivered to the IAF a year ago. Since then different systems some of them Israeli developed have been installed. Others are being installed now.
One of the features of F-35 is its capability to absorb electronic signals from radars and air defense systems and to quickly classify, geo-locate, and display them for the aircraft’s pilot.
The Stealth aircraft then is capable of distributing the electronic data to other combat participants.
The critical data is collected by the aircraft’s passive antennas embedded in the F-35’s edges that feed signals information to the jet’s computers. Using interferometer the slightest time delay between when a signal hits one antenna compared to another, azimuth and range can be defined and target-quality coordinates on where the threatening radio frequency emission is coming from can be devised.
The very advanced ELINT system of the F-35 is going to be further upgraded by the IAF with the help of some defense industries.
The IAF has prepared a list of weapon systems and “functional” systems that it intended to test on the special F-36 test aircraft.
The special test aircraft has been manufactured according to specifications that took two years to prepare.
The aim of the special aircraft is to adapt Israeli developed systems to the IAF’s F-35s. “All our platforms have been upgraded to enable stretching the flight envelope while using the unique weapon systems made by the Israeli industries,” an IAF officer from its flight test center said.
According to foreign press reports, since the F-35 has been made operational in the IAF it has participated in some combat activities.
Since the stealth fighter aircraft arrived in Israel, some Israeli made systems have been tested in different scenarios, but these tests can be performed fully only when the test aircraft arrives.
According to the IAF, because the F-35 is a fifth generation aircraft, all the planned upgrades are “directly connected” to the special maintenance program of this aircraft .The IAF has made it clear that all levels of the F-35 maintenance will be performed in Israel. Some F-35 operators have agreed to perform the heavy maintenance in US controlled centers.
The test aircraft will enable the flight test center to enhance the capabilities of F-35 (ADIR) in air-to-air and air-to-ground missions using the highly classified systems developed for this purpose in Israel. This is in addition to the function as the main “target generator” for ground and naval forces.
Some of the Israeli defence industries have been busy adapting operational systems for use on the F-35. These include electronic systems and weapon systems that fit the operational requirement of the IAF.
These initial designs have been updated according to the accumulated operational experience of the aircraft, which is combat proven.
The Israeli companies that are developing systems for the IAF’s F-35s are reluctant to give any detail about the systems under development.
Maj. General (Retd.) Eitan Ben Eliyahu, former commander of the IAF told Raksha Anirveda, that the F-35 will add two main capabilities to the existing ones of the IAF. “The stealth is the most critical one in an area where different forces deploy advanced anti-aircraft systems.”
He added that the second capability is the one that allows this aircraft to receive and distribute all kinds of combat data from a long list of sensors. “This is very important for an air force that is performing combat missions almost on a daily basis.”
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist
