Why Israel Grounds 11 F-35 Fighters
The Israeli Air Force announced it has decided to follow the American Aircraft Production Administration's recommendation to ground 11 F-35B fighter jets after a recent crash in Texas
Israel grounds 11 F-35 jets after US fighter crashes.
The Israeli Air Force announced Sunday that it has decided to follow the American Aircraft Production Administration's recommendation to ground 11 F-35 B-type fighter jets after a crash at a North Texas military base on Dec. 16. This is reported by Times of Israel .
Produced by Lockheed Martin Corp, the F-35 is the fifth generation JSF fighter that Israel has adopted in the customized "Adir" version. The F-35B is the “short take-off, vertical landing variant” of the F-35, the fifth generation combat aircraft of the Joint Strike Fighter program.
Specifically, the Army said it would test 11 of its F-35I jets for a problem similar to the one that apparently caused the crash before being returned to service, following recommendations from the F-35 Joint Program Office. .
As early as early July, the US military grounded its entire fleet of F-35s, urging the Israeli military to begin evaluating their aircraft . The safety issue concerned the pilot ejection mechanism. On July 30, the Israeli Air Force announced a temporary suspension of the activity of its F-35 fighters. The jets were back in service after a week, following inspection.
All the details.
THE DECISION OF THE ISRAELI AIR FORCE
"From the results and the information submitted, it has emerged that these aircraft require a dedicated inspection to rule out the possibility of a repeated malfunction in the Israeli system," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said in a statement.
"The Air Force will review the results of the crash investigation and make recommendations on how to safely return the planes to flight," the statement added.
THE INCIDENT INVOLVING AN F-35B IN TEXAS
On Dec. 15, an F-35B crashed into a runway at a US Navy base in Texas, reportedly during a test of its hover capabilities conducted by Lockheed Martin. The pilot had to eject from an F-35B fighter after a botched landing and was unharmed.
THE F-35 ADIR OF ISRAEL
The F-35I, Israel's version of the F-35, is based on the F-35A, which has a conventional takeoff and landing system. The B variant, used by the United States Marine Corps and other navies, allows for short takeoff and vertical landing on aircraft carriers.
The army has not explained in detail why only some of its jets may have the problem that caused the F-35B to crash, the Israeli newspaper points out.
Israel has agreed to buy at least 50 F-35 fighter jets from US defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Tel Aviv has received 36 aircraft so far and the remaining aircraft are expected to arrive in batches of two or three until 2024. The last three F-35i “Adir” stealth fighter-bombers landed just last November at Nevatim Air Base in the Negev . The aircraft became part of the "Golden Eagle" squadron.
Media reports last year revealed that Israel would seek to purchase another 25 aircraft.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/perche-israele-mette-a-terra-11-caccia-f-35/ on Tue, 27 Dec 2022 11:26:21 +0000.