Flight International - November 10, 2015

DEFENCE

20 | Flight International | 10-16 November 2015 flightglobal.com

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D

espite the Lockheed Martin
F-35 programme’s “unique
relationship with Israel”, the
nation has not been granted
unfettered access to every
component on the at least 33
aircraft that it will receive from
December 2016.
The Israeli air force has relative
freedom to upgrade and weapon-
ise its existing Boeing F-15s and
Lockheed F-16s, and will have
extended access to F-35 hard-
ware. But there are some aspects
of the new aircraft that will re-
main off-limits, says joint
programme office head Lt Gen
Christopher Bogdan.
“Some portions of the F-35 are
not releasable to any partners or
customers, not uniquely Israel,”
he says. “Only the US services
and US industry can do certain
things on the airplane.” He adds:
“If there’s anything unique to
put on the airplane, if we can let

you do it we will, and if not we’ll

work it, in your country or the

US. Israel should be able to do

anything it wants to the airplane,

sometimes with our help and

sometimes not.”

Israel will be able to trial indige-

nously-produced weapons at

home, and its F-35Is will come

equipped with its own choice of

command-and-control, radio and

electronic warfare systems, Bog-

dan confirms. “They can uniquely

set their own requirements, and

we will meet their requirements.”

Regarding follow-on moderni-

sation of the F-35 from 2019, Bog-

dan says that mounting require-

ments from the 14 Lightning II

buyer nations and services could

make the Block 4 project unafford-

able without a more realistic re-

phasing. Israel will be able to

choose its own upgrade package,

but the timing and items within it

will depend on how much the

country is willing to pay, or wait.

Current US policy which pre-

vents the sale of F-35s to any

Middle East nation besides Israel

will remain in place for the “fore-

seeable future”, Bogdan says.

Meanwhile, the F-35A’s

General Dynamics GAU-22/A

25mm cannon was fired in-flight

for the first time on 30 October. ■

B

oeing has been contracted to
produce a planned final
tranche of 15 EA-18G Growlers
for the US Navy, with the
company now looking to the
Department of Defense and
international customers to sus-
tain its assembly line for the
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and its
electronic attack derivative in St
Louis, Missouri beyond 2017.
Announced in late October,
the $898 million order rounds
out the navy’s total requirement
for 153 EA-18Gs. However,
Boeing says there are ongoing The $898m contract will bring the navy’s fleet of EA-18Gs to 153

US Navy

USN orders last Growlers as Boeing seeks exports

REQUIREMENT JAMES DREW WASHINGTON DC

discussions and analysis with

the service about additional

Growler and Super Hornet or-

ders. Boeing is in the process of

cutting the output rate for the

twin-engined type from three

aircraft per month to two by the

first quarter of 2016, in an at-

tempt to keep the line viable

until at least 2019.

The manufacturer says it re-

mains hopeful of securing orders

for another 12 Super Hornets from

the DoD following the completion

of budget deliberations in the US

Congress, while another commit-

ment could come from an

undisclosed “Middle East cus-

tomer”. If completed, the latter

deal could total around 24 aircraft.

Additional export opportuni-

ties for the Super Hornet current-

ly exist in nations including

Canada, Denmark and Finland. ■

TECHNOLOGY JAMES DREW WASHINGTON DC

F-35 secrets ‘not releasable’ to Israel

Elements of Lightning II’s design and construction are to remain classified to allies, customers and development partners

FLEET ARIE EGOZI TEL AVIV

More F-15s requested after Iran deal

An additional squadron of advanced

Boeing F-15s has been revealed as

an element of a so-called “compen-

sation package” requested by Israel

in exchange for the US government’s

negotiation of the removal of inter-

national sanctions against Iran.

While details of the request have

not been released, Israeli sources

say it involves Boeing’s Silent Eagle-

standard aircraft, which can carry an

increased number of air-launched

weapons and have conformal fuel

tanks for extended-range perfor-

mance. The type would also be

equipped with Israeli-developed

systems, if acquired.

Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer

database records the Israeli air

force as currently operating 25

F-15Is – the youngest of which are

16 years old – and a combined 58

earlier F-15A/Cs.

Israel’s wider equipment request

has taken shape since an

international agreement was

reached in Vienna on 14 July to lift

sanctions on Iran in exchange for

stringent restrictions on the nation’s

nuclear activities. Other aircraft

being requested include Bell Boeing

V-22 tiltrotors, Boeing KC-46A

tankers and additional Lockheed

Martin F-35Is. ■

Firing tests have begun the with type’s GAU-22/A 25mm cannon

Lockheed Martin

“If there’s anything

unique to put on the

airplane, if we can let

you do it we will, and

if not we’ll work it”

LT GEN CHRISTOPHER BOGDAN
Joint programme office head, F-

US NavyUS Navy