The first two brand new stealth combat jets arrived in Israel with another 48 on order—enough for two mighty squadrons.
Israel has named the stealth fighters Adir, a Hebrew term meaning both “powerful” and “glorious.” The cost for each jet is a whopping $122 million, $40 million more than the US versions. The price difference is a result of producing an aircraft with the unique specifications required by the Israeli Air Force (IAF).
“Israel wants its own special systems that no one else knows about,” Joshua Shani, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Israel, told the Israeli financial newspaper Globes. “All the electronic warfare, command and control, and communications systems installed in the plane need to be Israeli-made.”
If the American jet is outstanding, the Israeli clone is even better.
“The US doesn’t have the secret systems installed on the Israeli version, such as an internal communications...
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