‘These planes can reach anywhere in Middle East, Including Iran,’ Netanyahu says of F-35
Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday toured the Nevatim Israel Air Force (IAF) base, visited the F-35 squadron and held a security discussion with IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, GOC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin and the forum of air force commanders.
Netanyahu with F-35 Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO
“I am on an impressive tour of the air force base. I see all of our weapons systems and planes,” Netanyahu stated while standing before an IAF F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
“Here behind me is the ‘Adir’, the F-35. Recently, Iran has been threatening the destruction of Israel. It would do well to remember that these planes can reach anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran and certainly Syria,” he stated ominously, relating to the IAF’s multiple strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in the country.
The IAF, the US Air Force and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) last month conducted the Tri-Lightning joint exercise, the first time in history that F-35 fighters from several armies participated in a joint drill.
The Adir was declared operational by the IAF in December 2017. The Israeli F-35 was the first outside of the US to be declared operational, preceded only by the US Marine Corps and the US Air Force.
The fifth-generation fighter jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is considered one of the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft. Israel has acquired a total of 50 F-35s which are to be supplied by December 2024.
TPS
