F-35 stealth fighter jet makes its combat debut – Used by Israel in Syria
F-35 stealth fighter jet makes its combat debut – Used by Israel in Syria. Israel has contracted 50 F-35s at a cost of $7.2 billion)
Series of news popping up in media recently, some questioning its combat readiness, the others its exorbitant price, must have goaded USA and Israel to showcase combat prowess of F-35 Lightning II.
Whatever the immediate exigencies, but F-35 has made its combat debut with the Israel Defence Force.
Israel is the first country in the world to carry out an “operational attack” with the F-35 stealth fighter, Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin said on Tuesday.
“The F-35 squadron has become an operational squadron. We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East,” he said.
Norkin presented images of the F-35 over Beirut, Lebanon
He said that the stealth fighter did not participate in the most recent strike in Syria but did in two previous ones.
He was speaking at a three-day conference organized by the IAF in Herzliya, to which senior officers from armies all over the world were invited.
The IAF commander also said that more than 100 surface-to-air missiles were fired at Israeli jets over Syria.
“After that [the Iranian attack] we attacked over 20 Iranian targets in Syria.
Unfortunately, Syrian air defense systems fired over 100 antiaircraft missiles at our planes
F-35 stealth fighter jet makes its combat debut – Used by Israel in Syria
In response to that , we destroyed their antiaircraft batteries,” Norkin said.
The Israel Defense Forces also announced on its Twitter account that the Israeli version of the aircraft, using its “Adir” moniker was used in operational missions.
In addition “The Adir planes are already operational and flying in operational missions,”
The use of the F-35 in combat is a major milestone for the aircraft that has been in development since the early 1990s.
The program has been marred not only by cost overruns and delays but persistent attacks by critics who have called into question the jet’s warfighting capabilities.
The combat debut could also bode well for future buys of the joint strike fighter.
Israel has already put 50 F-35 Adir aircraft on the contract that has cost it 7.2 billion dollars.
However, last year its parliament urged its defense ministry to conduct an analysis of alternatives before going forward with more orders, which could add another 25 to 50 jets to the IAF.
Israel’s announcement follows another milestone last year when the U.S. Marine Corps deployed its vertical take-off and landing version, the F-35B, to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan
Furthermore The first permanent overseas deployment of the aircraft for the U.S. Military.
Israel’s decision to employ its Adir, or “Mighty One” in Syria may stem from February’s downing of an IAF F-16
which prompted some experts to question why the IAF was not using the stealthy jet against capable Syrian air defenses.
The U.S. Air Force plans to follow suit. The F-35A is slated to deploy to Europe as early as 2020. Those aircraft are destined for Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath in England.
Read more: F-35 could possibly shoot down a ballistic missiles by 2025
