Israel's 5th Generation Fighter
Israel became the first country to select the F-35 through the United States government's Foreign Military Sales process when a Letter of Agreement was signed in October 2010. On June 22, 2016, the Israeli Air Force received the first F-35A Adir for Israel at a ceremony at the Fort Worth, Texas, F-35 factory. The Israeli Air Force declared its F-35 fleet operationally capable in December 2017, marking the completion of an intensive integration and training effort conducted at Nevatim AFB, Israel. The Israeli Air Force gave the F-35 the Hebrew name Adir which, meaning "Mighty One" in Hebrew.
Program Stats
- Aircraft Variant: F-35A
- Program of Record: 50 Aircraft
- Aircraft Delivered: 14
- Flight Hours: 3,100+
- Pilots Trained: 10+
- Maintainers Training: 60+
Economic Impact
- Contract Value: $1.5 Billion
Base Locations
- AFB Ghedi
- AFB Amendola
- NAS Taranto Cavour Carrier
Program Milestones
- 2010: Israel became the first country to select the F-35 through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Sales process
- 2016: The Israeli Air Force received the first F-35I ADIR
- 2016: The first Israeli F-35, known as
F-35I ADIR AS-1 took flight in
Fort Worth, TX - 2017: The Israeli Air Force declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC)
- 2018: The Israeli Air Force announced that the first F-35 made its combat debut
- 2018: The Israeli Air Force received first 3F aircraft