Israel may seek to procure a squadron of used USAF F-15s to bridge the anticipated gap until it receives its first F-35 strike fighters. This is one of the options, including upgrades to its existing F-15s and F-16s, that the Israeli defense ministry is considering to keep its combat aircraft inventory at 460 airframes until the F-35 enters its inventory, reports UPI. Though Israel inked a $2.75 billion deal with the United States for 20 F-35s last October—with an eye toward an eventual 75—delays in the overall F-35 program may push back the first Israeli deliveries by several years to as late as 2018. “Qualitative advantage has been a main element of Israeli’s security concept,” Yiftah Shapir, a security analyst at Tel Aviv University told UPI, in explaining why the defense ministry would have interest in the used USAF F-15s.
The B-52 bombers that flew off the coast of Venezuela on Oct. 15 were accompanied by Marine Corps F-35s as part of a so-called “Bomber Attack Demonstration,” according to new images and information from the Pentagon.
