Originally posted by Seekerof
Sector......
Update on the information I provided:
"ISRAEL SAYS "NO THANKS" TO F/A-22"
(Obviously due to weaken economy)

"Israel will not purchase America's newest strike fighter, the F/A-22 Raptor, and instead will base its future front-line fleet on the planned multirole Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and existing F-16 and F-15 jets. Maj. Gen. Dani Haloutz, who commands the Israel Air Force, said the service concluded it simply could not afford the stealthy aircraft, whose flyaway costs - according to conservative U.S. Air Force estimates - will exceed $100 million per copy. At one point, the Israel Air Force had hoped to buy 50 F/A-22s for use by decade’s end. The decision to abandon the Raptor caps years of internal evaluations and discussions with prime contractor Lockheed Martin and Pentagon representatives over costs, operational capabilities and the service's desire to integrate myriad Israeli subsystems into the U.S. platform. "The F/A-22 is a great airplane, but now, any way we try to look at it, it's too expensive for us," Haloutz said. Severe cuts in Israeli defense spending for 2004 and later years have frozen, delayed or killed modernization programs in all branches of the Israel Defense Forces." (Defense News)


regards
seekerof