“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off. It’s time to do that. We don’t want to sanction friends.”
—US President Donald J. Trump, referring to the sanctions against Turkey that barred them from the program that allows countries to gain access to the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter
Israel’s military has long benefited from its technological advantage over other countries in the region, something that has been part of US foreign policy. But policy makers in Jerusalem seem worried about the possibility that Israel will lose its qualitative military edge in the air if a deal to sell the F-35 fighter jet to Turkey goes through, as US President Donald J. Trump seems eager to do.
Greece, which is scheduled to get its own shipment of F-35s over the next couple of years and also views Turkey as a potential adversary, is reportedly concerned as well.
(To understand more about Trump’s desire to make this deal, see this week’s “In Focus” column by Rabbi Avi Shafran.)
Turkey had been excluded from the F-35 program due to its use of a Russian anti-aircraft system. But now Trump seems close to making a deal after a meeting with Erdogan at the recent NATO summit, and after Turkey pawned off its Russian missile system to another country. Is this something for Israel to worry about?
The Plane and its Abilities
The F-35 is the most advanced fighter aircraft that America sells to other countries. (The F-22 is reserved for the US military.)
In the early days of the F-35, some critics called it a failure and nitpicked various aspects of its performance. But it appears to have demonstrated its combat-readiness, including by Israel and its repeated use of the stealth fighter. The war in Iran in which both Israeli and US planes dominated the skies was yet another proof.
It is unclear whether any country can reliably detect the F-35 in flight, although China has claimed it has technology to detect the F-35 and other fifth-generation fighters.
As it did in the past to other foreign-made jets, Israel has made its own modifications to the F-35; its version is known as the F-35I Adir. But how much advantage that would give the IDF if Turkey had the regular F-35 isn’t clear
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