2023-07-03 03:22:06
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel will buy 25 F-35 fighter jets from the United States, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced Sunday, in a deal that increases the Israeli government’s arsenal of the stealth aircraft by 50 percent.
The F-35 is the most advanced fighter in the world, and Israel is the only country in the Middle East to have aircraft of this type. The $3 billion contract increases Israel’s fleet of F-35s from 50 to 75, and is expected to be completed in the coming months, the ministry said.
He said the deal would be funded through US military assistance to Israel and that the aircraft’s maker, Lockheed Martin, and its engine maker, Pratt & Whitney, have committed to involving Israeli companies in the production process. .
“The new pact will ensure continued cooperation between US companies and Israeli defense industries in the production of aircraft parts,” the statement said.
The expansion of the Israeli arsenal comes at a time of heightened tension between Israel and Iran. Israel, which considers Iran its biggest enemy, has used F-35s on previous occasions to shoot down Iranian drones, and has threatened to carry out a long-range strike once morest nuclear targets in Iran.
Israel accuses Tehran of trying to develop an atomic weapon — charges the Iranian government denies — and is believed to be behind a series of attacks once morest Iranian nuclear experts and facilities inside Iran in recent years.
Israel, which has been trying to counter Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria, carried out an airstrike on the Syrian city of Homs on Sunday, one of hundreds of attacks on Syrian regions under government control in recent years.
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