Israel has asked to buy up to 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in a deal worth as much as $15.2 billion if all options are exercised, the Pentagon said Sept. 30.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale initially would be for 25 fighters designed for conventional take off and landing.
But Israel would have the option of buying another 50 of the aircraft, either designed for conventional take off and landing or for short take off and vertical landing, the agency said.
"The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as 15.2 billion dollars," it said in a statement.
The F-35 is a stealthy new multi-role fighter built by Lockheed Martin that is intended to replace the F-16.
Israeli officials have said they plan to buy 100 fighters over the next decade.
It was unclear how soon delivery of the aircraft might begin.
The DSCA disclosed the proposed sale in a notification to Congress, which has 30 days to raise any objections to the sale. A deal would then have to be concluded with the Israelis.
"It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives," the DSCA said.
"Israel needs these aircraft to augment its present operational inventory and to enhance its air-to-air and air-to-ground self-defense capability," it said.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Israel Asks to Buy F-35s (Pentagon)
Self-Destruct Cluster Bombs By Israel
The Israeli army is equipping itself with self-destruct cluster bombs in order to lower the number of civilian victims of this type of weapon, used in the 2006 war in Lebanon, military radio said.
The army has reduced its purchases of U.S. made cluster bombs, instead buying Israel-made M-85 cluster bombs, which contain a mechanism to destroy themselves if they fail to explode immediately on impact, according to the report.
Cluster munitions spread bomblets over a wide area from a single container.
The United Nations estimates that a million cluster bombs were dropped on Lebanon by Israel between July 12 and August 14 in 2006 in the conflict with Hezbollah.
About 40 percent of these did not explode on impact and are spread among villages and orchards in the south of Lebanon.
According to a U.N. report in June, at least 38 people have been killed and 217 wounded by bomblets exploding since the end of the fighting.
The Israeli government's Winograd Commission of enquiry into the mistakes of the Lebanon war recommended the army use fewer cluster bombs in future to reduce civilian injuries.
In May, delegates from 111 countries agreed a landmark treaty in Dublin to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions by its signatories.
However, the agreement lacked the backing of major producers and stockpilers including Israel, China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.
Self-Destruct Cluster Bombs By Israel
The Israeli army is equipping itself with self-destruct cluster bombs in order to lower the number of civilian victims of this type of weapon, used in the 2006 war in Lebanon, military radio said.
The army has reduced its purchases of U.S. made cluster bombs, instead buying Israel-made M-85 cluster bombs, which contain a mechanism to destroy themselves if they fail to explode immediately on impact, according to the report.
Cluster munitions spread bomblets over a wide area from a single container.
The United Nations estimates that a million cluster bombs were dropped on Lebanon by Israel between July 12 and August 14 in 2006 in the conflict with Hezbollah.
About 40 percent of these did not explode on impact and are spread among villages and orchards in the south of Lebanon.
According to a U.N. report in June, at least 38 people have been killed and 217 wounded by bomblets exploding since the end of the fighting.
The Israeli government's Winograd Commission of enquiry into the mistakes of the Lebanon war recommended the army use fewer cluster bombs in future to reduce civilian injuries.
In May, delegates from 111 countries agreed a landmark treaty in Dublin to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions by its signatories.
However, the agreement lacked the backing of major producers and stockpilers including Israel, China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.
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