On May 22, 2018 Israeli Air Force commander Amikam Norkin announced
that its F-35I stealth fighters had flown on two combat missions on
“different fronts,” showing as proof a photograph of an F-35 overflying
Beirut. While details on those missions have not been
released—apparently, they were not deployed in a massive Israeli air attack
on Iranian forces in Syria that took place on May 9, 2018—this
nonetheless apparently confirmed the first combat operations undertaken
by any variant of the controversial stealth jet, which is currently entering service with the militaries of ten countries after undergoing over two decades of development.
In fact, Israel’s F-35I Adir—or “Mighty Ones”—will be the
only F-35 variant to enter service heavily tailored to a foreign
country’s specifications. There had been plans for a Canadian CF-35,
with a different refueling probe and drogue-parachute to allow landing
on short Arctic air strips, but Ottawa dropped out of the F-35 program.
It has become a common practice to create custom variants of fourth-generation jet fighters such as the Su-30, F-15 and F-16
for export clients, made to order with local avionics, weapons and
upgrades that suit a particular air force’s doctrine and strategic
priorities. Today, Israel operates heavily upgraded F-15I Ra’am (“Thunder”) and two-seater F-16I Sufa fighters.
Furthermore, Israel in particular hasn’t hesitated to modify aircraft
it has already received fit its needs: for example, in 1981 it rigged
its then-new F-15A Eagle air superiority fighters to drop bombs, and
used these first-ever strike Eagles to destroy the Iraqi Osirak nuclear
reactor.
However, the Lockheed-Martin has mostly refused to allow major
country-specific modifications to the F-35, despite the hundreds of
millions of dollars foreign F-35 operators contributed to the aircraft’s
development. There is, of course, an efficiency-based rationale, given
the additional costs and delays of creating country-specific variants,
and the fact that Lockheed is struggling to both produce F-35s fast and
cheaply enough and build enough spare parts for the hundreds already in service.
Israel, however, managed to carve out an exception. Though not an
investor in the F-35’s development, Tel Aviv was nonetheless quick to
sign on to the program with an initial order of fifty. It also
negotiated a favorable deal in which billions of dollars worth of F-35
wings and sophisticated helmet sets would be manufactured in Israel,
paid for with U.S. military aid. Furthermore, depot-level maintenance
will occur in a facility operated by Israeli Aeronautics Industries
rather than at a Lockheed facility abroad.
The first nine F-35s entered operational service in December 6, 2017,
with the 140 “Golden Eagles” Squadron, based at Nevatim Airbase near
Be’er Sheva. Six more should arrive in 2018. Israel will eventually
activate a second squadron at Nevatim, and retains the option for an
additional twenty-five F-35s to form a third squadron, likely based
elsewhere. However, recent reports suggest
a third squadron may postponed for a decade in favor of buying
additional F-15Is, which trade the F-35’s stealth for greater range and
payload. Israel has paid a high price of between $110 to $125 million
per F-35 for its initial order, but in the future unit cost will
supposedly decline to around $85 million.
The first nineteen stealth jets received by Israel will actually be standard F-35A land-based fighters,
while the following thirty-one will be true F-35Is modified to
integrate Israeli-built hardware. However, most media sources have taken
to labeling all of them as F-35Is, and it does appear even the initial
batch will be retrofitted with an open-architecture Israeli Command,
Control, Communications and Computing (C4) system.
The Lightning’s sophisticated flight computer and ground-based
logistics system has become a matter of contention with many F-35
operators. Foreign air forces would like to have greater access to the
F-35’s computer source codes to upgrade and modify them as they see fit
without needing to involve external parties—but Lockheed doesn’t want to
hand over full access for both commercial and security-based reasons.
Israeli F-35Is uniquely will have an overriding Israeli-built C4
program that runs “on top” of Lockheed’s operating system. One of F-35’s
key capabilities come from its superior ability to soak up data with
its sensors and share it with friendly forces. Compatibility with
datalinks used by friendly Israeli air and ground forces is thus an
important aspect from Israel’s perspective as it tracks the position of
hostile surface-to-surface rocket launchers and surface-to-air missiles
systems.
The new system will also allow the IDF to install Israeli-built
datalinks and defensive avionics systems such as radar-jamming pods. An official told Aviation Week
the IAF expects the advantages of the F-35’s low radar cross-section
will be “good for five to ten years” before adversaries develop
countermeasures. There already exist methods for detecting stealth
fighters, including long-range infrared sensors, electromagnetic
sensors, and low bandwidth radars (though all have significant
limitations), and more exotic technologies such as quantum radar are also under development.
Thus, the IDF particularly values the flexibility to install
“plug-and-play” defensive countermeasures such as jamming pods as they
become relevant and available. It so happens the Israeli firms Elbit and
Israeli Aerospace Industries are major developers of such systems.
However, due to the F-35’s highly “fused” avionics, such plug-and-play
support needs to be built both into F-35 software and apparently even
the airframe. The add-ons will be installed in special apertures in the
lower fuselage and leading edge of the wings—presumably, features only
in the later production F-35Is that arrive in 2020.
Israel is also developing two different sets of external fuel tanks
to extend the F-35’s range. The first will be non-stealthy 425-gallon
underwing tanks developed by a subsidiary of Elbit—these could be
dropped when approaching enemy airspace (the pylons holding the drop
tanks would reportedly detach as well so as not to compromise stealth),
or used for missions in which stealth isn’t necessary. Further down the
line, IAI wants to co-develop with Lockheed bolt-on conformal fuel tanks
which “hug” the F-35 airframe so as not to compromise stealth and
aerodynamics.
The F-35I will also be certified to carry major Israeli-developed
weapons systems in its internal weapons bay, notably including the
Python-5 short-range heat-seeking air-to-air missile, and the Spice
family of glide bombs, which combine electro-optical, satellite and
man-in-the-loop guidance options for greater targeting versatility and
have a range of up to sixty miles.
However, country-specific F-35 weapons capabilities are not unique to
Israel. British Royal Air Force and Navy F-35s will be compatible with
the Meteor and ASM-132 air-to-air missile, while Norway and Australia’s
Lightning IIs will be able to carry the Norwegian Naval Strike Missile,
reflecting the importance of the sea-control mission for these nations.
The United States even would like its NATO partners to purchase F-35s
specially modified to deploy B-61 nuclear bombs.
The Adir and Israeli Strategy
Norkin’s announcement of F-35 operations was as much a part of
Israeli strategy as the actual deployment of the fighters. Tel Aviv
wants potential adversaries (chiefly, Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah) to
know that its fighters have already proven capable of infiltrating the
airspace of neighboring countries, and that its stealth jets could at
any moment launch an attack that may go undetected until the first bomb
strikes a target.
The F-35 has been criticized for its mediocre flight performance compared to earlier fourth-generation jets, meaning that it would be at a disadvantage
in a short-range ai dogfight against enemy fighters. Supporters argue
that the F-35 would leverage its stealth, sensors and long-range
missiles to avoid getting that close to more agile opponent in the first
place, and that the platform is really optimized more for striking
targets in defended enemy airspace.
The strike emphasis, however, is just fine with the Israeli Air Force, as since 1948
it has historically mostly trounced its opponents in air-to-air combat,
but suffered heavy losses to ground-based air defenses in the 1973 Yom
Kippur War. Since then, Israel jets have continued to face, and mostly
defeat, hostile SAMs
in scores of raids launched into Lebanon and Syria, though in February
2018 it suffered its first combat loss of a fighter in decades when
Syrian S-200 missiles downed an Israeli F-16. Since 2017, there have
been rumors of the F-35s involvement in these raids, though most of
these rumors were likely inaccurate due to the risk of losing an
airframe over hostile territory at this stage.
Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu, in power since 2009, clearly
favors using military force to suppress Iran’s nuclear research program,
having opposed and undermined negotiated settlements. While Tel Aviv
basically wants the United States to carry out such an attack, the F-35
makes an Israeli attack on Iran more practical.
However, Israeli aircraft would have to fly through Turkey, or either
Jordan and Syria and then Iraq to reach Iranian aerospace over six
hundred miles away—and remember, key targets will likely be much further
from the border. This also happens test the range limit of most
combat-loaded fourth-generation fighters, meaning they would need
conspicuous aerial tankers to make the raid viable. Furthermore, Israeli
warplanes would have to disable or destroy Iranian air defenses, which
would require additional time and aircraft.
Israeli jets violated Turkish airspace in 2007 in order to destroy a
nuclear reactor in northern Syria. However a sustained air campaign
traversing foreign airspace would be more difficult to execute than a
one-time raid. However, the F-35 has a greater combat radius than most
fourth-generation jets, due to its inability to carry extra fuel tanks
without compromising stealth. Furthermore, it could more easily
penetrate Iran’s air defenses, and evade detection by neutral countries,
than fourth-generation jets, lowering the necessary size of a strike
package.
Over time, Israel will likely acquire additional F-35s, as it intends
for the type to replace its fleet of over 320 F-16s, starting with the
now very old F-16A Netz aircraft first acquired in 1980s. Reportedly,
Israel is even interested in possibly acquiring F-35B jump jets
down the line. One usually thinks of F-35Bs as serving from smaller
aircraft carriers or island bases, but Israel sees role for jump jets by
dispersing them to remote improvised airstrips to avoid enemy air-base
attacks. This still seems a somewhat extravagant solution to the threat,
given that the F-35B is more expensive and has inferior performance to
the F-35A for most other purposes. This may explain why an F-35B
purchase is allegedly more popular with Israeli politicians than the Israeli Air Force.
Israel has also been a proponent of a two-seat variant of the F-35,
which would be convenient for training purposes, and also allow a
back-seat Weapon System Officer to manage the F-35s precision-guided
weapons while the pilot focuses on flying.
At any rate, the activities of Israel’s Adirs are likely to continue to remain conspicuously in the news, if less so on hostile radars.
Sébastien Roblin
