{"id":23384,"date":"2017-12-06T14:27:21","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T14:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/06\/israel-declares-f-35s-ready-for-operations\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:00:45","slug":"israel-declares-f-35s-ready-for-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2017\/12\/06\/israel-declares-f-35s-ready-for-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel declares F-35s ready for operations"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=beabfb23-23b9-4cb7-9749-8e25608340d4\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-beabfb23-23b9-4cb7-9749-8e25608340d4.png\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Just a year after the first stealth fighters arrived in the country, Israel declares its first F-35 squadron ready for operations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TEL AVIV, Israel \u2014 The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday declared its initial squadron of nine F-35 stealth fighters ready for operational use, less than a year after the first two fifth-generation fighters were delivered to the country by the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a Dec. 6 announcement, the Israel Defense Forces noted that Israel is the only country besides the U.S. to declare operational capability for the F-35 \u2014 a weapon system that \u201cenhances strategic and operational capabilities\u201d and improves readiness \u201cin a wide range of scenarios and threats in all arenas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While an early December initial operational capability had been long-planned by the Israeli Air Force and F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin, the announcement comes after multiple strikes in Syria attributed to the Israeli Air Force earlier in the week. In at least two attacks over a 72-hour period earlier in the week, the Syrian regime announced that it had launched surface-to-air missiles against Israeli aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israel has not confirmed or denied its role in the recent Syrian attacks. Yet, it has publicly insisted it would act to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent presence in the war-torn country north of its border. At a Jerusalem Post conference on Dec. 6, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel\u2019s most immediate challenge \u201cis not to allow Iran to take over Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe mean what we say and we act on our words,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a letter to men and women of the Israeli Air Force, Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin highlighted the service\u2019s high-tempo operations on multiple fronts in what he termed a \u201cdynamic Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement of initial operational capability for the F-35, he said, \u201ccomes at a time in which the IAF is operating on a large scale on a number of fronts in a dynamic Middle East. The constantly evolving and complex challenges are met with a high-quality and professional aerial response. The operationalization of the [F-35] adds another level to the [Israel Air and Space Force]\u2019s capabilities at this time,\u201d Norkin wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a recent interview, retired Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, the former Israeli Air Force commander who signed off on the decision to procure the F-35, told this reporter that the fifth-generation fighter offers \u201cunique strategic advantage here in this neighborhood, both in terms of deterrence and also operational capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Nehushtan, the service is working methodically and capably to integrate \u201cunique Israeli capabilities\u201d into the new F-35 force and to integrate the new fighters into a network that encompasses the rest of Israel\u2019s combat air power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe certainly will see the benefits of having the unique virtues of these F-35 capabilities in the Middle East,\u201d he said. \u201cThis know-how is developing, and I\u2019m sure the IAF will know how best to utilize the F-35 and integrate it into the greater IAF and to apply these holistic capabilities to the challenges Israel faces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked whether the F-35 would play a lead role in a possible strike on Iran, the former Air Force commander replied: \u201cIf or when the state of Israel determines the need to exercise its sovereign right to self-defense, the F-35 absolutely will be a key player.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He noted, however, that given Iran\u2019s apparent compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, he doesn\u2019t foresee near-term use of military force. \u201cThe agreement actually put Iran at some distance away [from a nuclear bomb] in the short term. But in the long term, it certainly has holes. Nevertheless, we\u2019re now living in an international context of the agreement. So I don\u2019t see, in that context, any attack coming soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israel has contracted for 50 F-35s, and long-term plans envision another 25 aircraft later in the coming decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Israeli Air Force has declared its initial squadron of nine F-35 stealth fighters ready for operational use, less than a year after the first two were delivered here by the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":51582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,11,47,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2818],"class_list":["post-23384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-mideast-africa","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"K3JYVLKNBFAADABZHVCN55DRLQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2017\/12\/06\/israel-declares-f-35s-ready-for-operations\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Israel declares F-35s ready for operations - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Israeli Air Force has declared its initial squadron of nine F-35 stealth fighters ready for operational use, less than a year after the first two were delivered here by the U.S. Air Force.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2017\/12\/06\/israel-declares-f-35s-ready-for-operations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israel declares F-35s ready for operations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Israeli Air 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