Biden, at Israeli Independence Day party: U.S. will deliver new F-35 jets to Israel next year
Deal will make Israel the only country in the Middle East to have the advanced aircraft, VP says.
By Reuters and Gili Cohen | Apr. 24, 2015 | | Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.653345
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday the United States would deliver new F-35 fighter jets to Israel next year to help its ally maintain its military edge in the Middle East.
Speaking at an Israeli Independence Day celebration in Washington, Biden described the aircraft as “our finest, making Israel the only country in the Middle East to have this fifth-generation aircraft.”
Vowing the United States would make sure Israel maintained its “qualitative edge,” Biden told the pro-Israel audience: “Next year, we will deliver to Israel the F-35.”
The Defense Ministry announced in mid-February that it had signed a deal with the United States to purchase 14 more F-35 planes for the Israel Air Force at $110 million dollars each.
The deal is considered the continuation of a purchase agreement signed in 2010, when it was decided that 19 F-35 planes would be transferred to the Israel Defense Forces.
The Israel Air Force will receive a total of 33 F-35 planes. One of the acquisitions will serve as an experimental aircraft.
The first two planes are scheduled to land in Israel by the end of 2016. The rest of the aircraft are expected to arrive by 2021.
The defense establishment and the air force are interested in purchasing additional aircrafts to eventually form two stealth fighter squadrons, each comprising 25 planes.