Israel Air Force: News

"Halting operations with the F-16C/D unit will be part of a major adjustment programme aimed at tailoring the air force's inventory to future challenges, while taking into account the limitations of the nation's defence budget.

Earlier this year, a contract was signed for the purchase of another 14 F-35 (Adir) fighters for the Israeli air force. The service and defence ministry had wanted to 31, but strong opposition in the Israeli cabinet limited the number in a $2.82 billion deal. The order includes options for the 17 additional aircraft, and Flightglobal has previously quoted defence ministry sources as saying efforts will continue to acquire the additional number needed to match the air force's operational needs. According to the Israeli defence ministry – which signed a first, 19-aircraft order in 2010 – the first two F-35s will land in the nation at the end of 2016.

Flightglobal's Fleets Analyzer database records Israel as operating 77 F-16C fighters and 48 D-model trainers."

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israeli-air-force-details-f-35-transition-plan-419773/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Lockheed Begins Assembly of First Israeli F-35

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin has officially begun assembly of Israel’s first F-35 “Adir” fighter jet at the company's facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

The aircraft, designated AS-1, last week began its “mate” process, where the major components are joined to form the full structure, according to a Jan. 10 Lockheed statement. Lockheed plans to deliver AS-1 to the Israel Air Force (IAF) later this year.

“These 5th Generation aircraft will greatly enhance the IAF’s ability to defend the State of Israel from the serious threats we face,” Aharon Marmarosh, director of the Israel Ministry of Defense Mission in New York, said in the statement.

Israel plans to buy a total of 33 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing aircraft to replace its aging F-15s and F-16s. Israel is also a key contributor to development of the plane; its Elbit Systems is partnered with Rockwell Collins on the Generation III helmet, which provides pilots a 360-degree view of the battlefield.

“Today marks a new beginning for tactical aviation for Israel,” said Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin F-35 program manager, according to the statement. “Lockheed Martin is proud of our long and storied relationship with Israel’s armed forces. The F-35A Adir strengthens our solid relationship with the IAF and ensures that the Israeli aerospace industry will remain strong for decades to come.”

Lockheed successfully delivered 45 F-35s to international partners and the US services in 2015, meeting the production goal for the year. But this is only the beginning of a global ramp-up: By the end of 2019, the Joint Program Office will have 493 operational jets around the globe, compared with just 126 today.

George1 wrote:Lockheed Begins Assembly of First Israeli F-35

Enjoy, Israel.

Long-range fashion catches on in IAF


Waiting so long for Rafael to respond to a new fashion in missile technology seemed surprising only because the state-owned Israeli weapons and sensor house is most often the industry’s leading trendsetter.

But Rafael has been curiously slow to respond to a clear trend within the air-to-air missile community. In the past decade, the most anticipated new missiles – the Chinese PL-12, MBDA Meteor, Raytheon AIM-120D and Vympel RVV-AE-PD – have all shared a similar trait. As advanced sensors push the detection range of missile firing platforms ever farther, missile manufacturers have responded with new weapons with ranges beyond 54nm (100km), or twice that of the Rafael medium-range, radar-guided Derby weapon.

Despite evidence of a development programme extending back to 2004, confirmation of a so-called “Python 6” programme with 54nm range emerged only recently and under a different name.

Rafael finally announced the existence of the I-Derby-ER missile at the Paris air show in June 2015, shortly after acknowledging that a new long-range missile was in the works at Aero India in February of the same year.

This improved and extended-range Derby missile represents a sharp philosophical split within Rafael from only six years ago, when executives openly discussed basing the long-range Python 6 on the Stunner, a surface-to-air missile now in development with Raytheon for Israel’s David’s Sling air defence system.

The Python 6 “was a concept. Right now, we’ve decided to go in different way with I-Derby-ER,” says Yossi Horowitz, Rafael marketing director and deputy general manager of the air superiority systems division.

To double the range of the baseline Derby missile, Rafael needed to make significant changes. The Derby itself was developed as a straightforward extension of the infrared-guided Python 4, originally equipped with a radar seeker developed jointly by Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries. The I-Derby variant replaces the IAI travelling wave tube-based seeker with a Rafael-developed solid-state transmitter and receiver.

For the extended-range version, Rafael has also added a dual-pulse solid rocket motor. By firing a secondary pulse of energy as the missile nears the target, a dual-pulse motor can extend the flight time of a missile compared with that of a single-pulse motor, which must keep more solid propellant stored in reserve for the terminal sequence.

Room for the dual-pulse motor in the I-Derby-ER is created by the addition of another innovation. Instead of using a seeker and a separate fuse to arm the warhead, the new Israeli product combines the two components into an integrated sensor and fusing system.

Such a system has been pursued outside Israel for several years. In 2008, the US Air Force Research Laboratory commissioned contractors to develop such technology under the seeker integrated target endgame (SITES) programme. If the technology worked, it was intended to be integrated in the US Air Force’s now-cancelled next generation missile (NGM) programme, which was then seeking to replace the Raytheon AGM-120 AMRAAM and AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) with a single weapon.

In both cases, the purpose of the integrated sensor and fusing system was the same. A derivative such as the I-Derby-ER needs to create space within the fixed volume of the missile’s airframe and combining two components into one is a perfect solution.

How the Israeli Air Force and Rafael’s export customers will use the missile is a different question. Though expected to be integrated on the IAF fighter fleet, the ultra-long-range I-Derby-ER seems an odd fit for a country the size of Israel. In that sense, Rafael’s apparent tardiness in creating a 54nm-range missile may be excused. Horowitz, for his part, acknowledges the contradiction of a small country developing an extended-range missile for air defence.

“Personally, I’m a bit confused about intercepting targets beyond 100km from the launch aircraft. What is 100km? In Israel, it means you are launching [a missile] against someone that is out of your country. Who knows what is going on in this area? Who can detect the target? Unless you know it’s a tanker or an [electronic warfare] aircraft, what is the mission?” Horowitz asks. “But it is a fashion. And you must know some of the [capabilities] of missiles is a fashion.”

"The Israel Defense Forces will be receiving another three Super Hercules transport planes by the end of the year, supplementing the three aircraft it already has at its Nevatim airbase in the southern part of the country.

In 2014, Haaretz reported that the Israel Air Force had reached agreement to buy one additional Hercules and was considering buying three. The planes, which each cost $75 million and are dubbed Shimshon – Samson – in Hebrew, are being purchased by the Defense Ministry as part of the financial aid allocation provided to Israel by the Americans.

The new and improved Super Hercules is considered particularly well suited for special air force missions. It can carry heavier cargo than previous Hercules models and can fly at lower altitudes. It can carry 128 passengers or four motor vehicles and, in a different configuration, can accommodate 92 parachutists or 97 stretchers."

Source: http://defence-blog.com/news/israel-defense-forces-will-be-receiving-another-three-super-hercules-transport-planes.html

The first F-35I for Israel

June 22, 2016 the company Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth (Texas, USA), the ceremony of rolling out the first built for fighter Israeli Air Force F-35I Lightning II (Israeli designation Adir) - aircraft with a serial AS-1 number (Israeli side number "901"). The rollout ceremony was attended by Minister of Defense of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman, who is in the United States on an official visit, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Air Force Brigadier General Tal Kelman, representatives of the defense ministries of Israel and the United States and the management corporation Lockheed Martin.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1976311.html

More F-35 orders remain on horizon for Israel

The Israeli Air Force’s chief of staff has recommended the purchase of an additional 17 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, but that decision is pending authorisation from the Israeli government.

George1 wrote:

Israel fails to shoot down UAV

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that flew from Syria into Israeli-controlled airspace over the central Golan Heights on 17 July survived three attempts to it shoot down, the Israeli military has admitted.

The Israeli Air Force fired two Patriot surface-to-air missiles and an air-to-air missile from F-16 at the UAV. All appeared to miss their target and the aircraft returned into Syrian airspace shortly after the attempts to shoot it down.

Localised air raid sirens went off in areas on the Golan Heights bordering Syria during the incident. A 14-year-old Israeli girl sustained light injuries when she was hit by the remnants of a Patriot missile falling to the ground.

Spice 1000, is an advanced electro-optic munition.

http://www.iaf.org.il/4449-46861-en/IAF.aspx

The first Israeli fighter F-35I flew





http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2038489.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JChwrALofLQ

Photo: Israeli Air Force F-16I crashes in southern Israel

http://echelon-defense.com/2016/10/06/photo-israeli-air-force-f-16i-crashes-in-negev/

theking950 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JChwrALofLQ

Good Lord, war has gotten high tech.

Israel to Buy 17 More Beleaguered F-35 Fighter Jets From US

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201611281047906269-israel-17-f35/

Israel extends the capabilities of the M-346 aircraft

Thus, less than a year has passed since the arrival of the last "Lavi", but the Air Force of Israel is already working on the modernization of the aircraft in order to expand its capabilities in the training of flight personnel. Together with the manufacturer, work is under way to equip the aircraft with inert training bombs and suspended fuel tanks. In the future, the aircraft manufacturer will be able to offer a similar upgrade to other customers.

The work is at an advanced stage - testing a prototype in the Israel Air Force Test Flight Center. M-346 also received updated software, based on the experience gained by the Israeli Air Force during almost 3 years of operation of the M-346.



http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2635939.html

Israel's Stunner air-to-air missile

Stunner is the name of the interceptor missile used in the Srave of David (David's Sling) and Patriot PAAC-4.



Back in 2009, the issue of creating an air-to-air version of this missile was raised. And in November 2015 it was reported that "Raphael" is at a "very advanced stage" in this matter. And so, the first photos appeared. The rocket is mounted on the suspension unit at the end of the right wing of the F-16I B / N 848, the aircraft carries the symbols of the Squadron of the Air Force Testing Center ("Taseet MANAT 5601"). On the symmetric left-wing suspension assembly, the F-16I carries an air-to-air missile AIM-120 AMRAAM.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2641938.html

The IAF has finally destroyed its aging fleet of fighter jets that went into service in the late 1960s. The aircraft were used during the Yom Kippur War and remained part of the fleet until 1996. (Photos)

https://sputniknews.com/military/201707211055774308-israel-jets-crushed-retire-service/

Israeli Air Force conducted exercises in Bulgaria

09/12/17 Bulgarian Novinite website citing the Xinhua News Agency (PRC) reported that the Israeli Air Force is conducting large-scale exercises in Bulgaria. Later this message appeared on newsru.co.il and israeldefense. The latter publishes (17.09.17) and the IDF comment on this issue: "This week (last week's speech - OG), the Air Force conducted conventional exercises in Bulgaria. The exercises were planned in advance, as part of the annual training schedule. "

According to Novinite, 42 aircraft, including F-15 and F-16, participated in the exercise. On the part of Bulgaria, MiG-29 fighters and ground-based air defense systems, apparently S-300, participated in the exercises. Also, the statement of the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria states: "the exercises will lead to increased interoperability and expanded military cooperation between the Armed Forces of Bulgaria and Israel, as well as to the improvement of the training of the Bulgarian Air Force units."



The exercises in Bulgaria were part of the large-scale exercises of the Air Force (TARGAH - Targil Haley), held every two years with the participation of all squadrons and other parts of the Air Force and air defense units. This year, the TARGAC was timed to the body exercises "Or ha-Dagan", held in the NWO of Israel for 2 weeks (ended September 14, 17). "Or ha-Dagan" became the largest drills of the IDF over the past 19 years (since 1998), except for the Air Force and the Air Force, the Navy and military intelligence also participated in them. The exercises worked out defensive actions in the event of an attempt to attack Hezbollah on the cities and settlements of the north of Israel, and then - the transition to a counteroffensive on the territory of Lebanon.

It is noted that the distance from Israel to Bulgaria (about 2,000 km) roughly corresponds to the distance from Israel to the central regions of Iran, and the MiG-29 and S-300 are the systems used by the Air Force and Air Defense of Iran. Thus, apparently, the exercises worked out a blow on the territory of Iran, in case of its direct intervention in the Israeli conflict with Hezbollah.

The Israeli Air Force exercises against the Bulgarian S-300s were reported earlier, for example, the Collector's Item exercise in May 2013. Air Force aircraft participated in the exercise, and the participants used the Graf Ignatievo airbase for basing.

Bulgaria bought 18 combat MiG-29s (type 9.12A) and four combat training MiG-29UB (type 9.51) in the late 1980s. To date, 15-16 aircraft of this type remain in service. As for the S-300, Bulgaria received one S-300PMU (export version of the S-300PS) in 1989. It is known about the delivery of 1 S-300PMU SAM in the 3rd quarter of 1989, including 16 missiles V-500K and 4 training missiles.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2853189.html

In Israel, announced the combat readiness of fighters F-35I

The first two F-35I (Adir) boarded in Israel a little less than a year ago, 12.12.16. Even then it was stated that the Air Force planned to make the aircraft combat-ready in a year. And today, on 06.12.17, after the completion of various checks and examinations known as the "Readiness Check" ("Bikoret Ha-Kshirut"), the aircraft was declared combat-ready. Israel's Air Force became the first in the world outside the US, where the F-35 became combat-ready (in the US F-35 combat readiness in the Marines and the Air Force).

According to Lieutenant Colonel Jotama, the commander of the 140th squadron operating the Adir, the test examined all aspects of the combat readiness of the aircraft, pilots and squadrons, both in preparation for the flight on the ground and the fulfillment of tasks of various kinds in the air. Moreover, it was verified that the Air Force as an organization was ready to operate the Adir in a combat situation: the Air Force headquarters, the Nevatim base, the Central Division of the Maintenance Department (Yasham-Yechidat Shlita Merkazit), the air control unit (YABA), etc. For maximum realizing the potential of the 5th generation Air Force aircraft had to adapt itself to the Adir, and not vice versa.

Now the Air Force has 9 "Adir", the readiness check was conducted on 5 of them. In 2018, another 9 should arrive, incl. 6 will be part of the 140th squadron, the first - in early summer (the first 33 F-35 shipments will be completed in 2021, and all 50 aircrafts ordered in 2024). Declaring an aircraft ready for combat does not mean the completion of the process of its absorption into the Air Force, in fact it is only the beginning. There are still many tests, development of tactics for various types of combat missions, training of new pilots and technicians.







https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2990987.html

Israeli Air Force adopts US used F-15D fighter aircraft

In September 2016, reports of the arrival of 10 F-15Ds in Israel from the excesses of the US Air Force were reported. Yesterday, December 17, 17, the Israeli Air Force website published an article on the modernization of these aircraft. Among other things, the article says that Israel received not 10 but 9 airplanes: 8 boarded in Tel-Nof in September 2016, another arrived in a few months. All of them previously served in the Air Force of the US National Guard (US Air National Guard, ANG).

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3008823.html

Some data on Israel Air Force

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3028970.html

Israeli fighter F-16I shot down by Syrian air defense

It is reported that on the morning of February 10, 2018, the multi-role fighter Lockheed Martin F-16I (Sufa) of the Israeli Air Force, who participated in an air strike on the Syrian territory, was shot down by an antiaircraft guided missile of the Syrian air defense forces. The plane fell in the northern part of Israel in the vicinity of the Beit Netophah valley near the kibbutz Harduf. Both F-16I pilots catapulted, one was seriously injured in the stomach, the other received minor injuries. The loss is confirmed by Israeli official sources and the media.

This is the first reliable loss of the Israeli Air Force combat aircraft from the enemy's air defense fire since November 20, 1983, when the Israeli fighter IAI Kfir C.2 was shot down by the anti-aircraft artillery fire of the Palestinian forces over Lebanon. For Syria's air defense, this is apparently the first confirmed downed Israeli combat aircraft since July 24, 1982, when the Syrian anti-aircraft missile systems (presumably the SAM 2K12 "Kvadrat") shot down the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II aircraft of the Air Force of Israel over the Bekaa valley in Lebanon it is believed that the reconnaissance RF-4E).



According to Israeli data, around 04.00 am on February 10, 2018, Iranian-launched UAV launched from Syria's Syria entered Israeli airspace and was intercepted and shot down in just one and a half minutes by the Boeing AH-64 Apache Air Force helicopter. Judging by the images of the wreckage of the device, this UAV was the Saeghe apparatus - the notorious Iranian analog of the American low-visibility Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel.

In response, the Israeli Air Force at about 06.00 am on 10 February struck at the mobile control post of the UAV, which was in the vicinity of the Syrian air base Tiyas (T-4), destroying it. It was reported that four Israeli F-16I aircraft participated in the attack, and one of them was amazed by the fire of the Syrian SAM systems, and the defeat of the Syrian ZUR was already over the territory of Israel. According to Israeli reports, Syrian air defense in the face of a strike released "more than 20" ZUR.

In turn, in response, around 10.00 am on 10 February, the Israeli Air Force launched a massive attack on the territory of Syria, announcing the attack of 12 targets, including three "air defense bases" on which there were four SAM positions - one SA-2 (S-75), two SA-5 (S-200) and one SA-17 (Buk-M2E). Also, the blow was caused by "four Iranian targets in Syria in the Damascus area," and, according to several sources, the locations of a number of parts of the land forces of Syria. According to the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Air Force Brig. Gen. Tomer Bar, this attack against Syrian air defense facilities was the largest since 1982. Apparently, the list of the Syrian SAMs subjected to the attack corresponds to the Israeli assessment of exactly what the Israeli F-16I was shot down.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3089339.html