Israel to buy two new combat squadrons of F-35 and F-15IA advanced fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin and Boeing in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars
An Israeli F-35 performs during a graduation ceremony for new pilots over the Hatzerim Airbase near Beersheba, Israel [File: Ariel Schalit/AP Photo]
By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters
Published On 3 May 2026
Israel has given final approval for a multibillion-dollar deal to buy two new combat squadrons of advanced F-35 and F-15IA fighter jets from United States manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the Ministry of Defence says.
Israel’s Ministerial Committee on Procurement signed off on the deal as the initial phase of a 350-billion-shekel ($119bn) programme to boost the country’s armed forces and “strengthen readiness ahead of a demanding decade for Israeli security”, it said on Sunday.
“Alongside immediate wartime procurement needs, we have a responsibility to act now to secure the [military’s] edge 10 years from now and beyond,” Defence Ministry Director General Amir Baram said.
The continuing US-Israel war on Iran “reinforced just how critical the US-Israel strategic relationship is and how essential advanced air power remains”, he added.
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Under the deal, Israel would buy a fourth F-35 squadron from Lockheed Martin and a second squadron of F-15IA fighter jets from Boeing.
In December, Boeing was given an $8.6bn contract for Israel, including 25 new F-15IAs and an option for 25 more.
Baram said the next step would be to move forward with finalising the agreements with the US government and military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the purchase “reinforces Israel’s overwhelming air superiority – a superiority that was demonstrated in Am KeLavi [12-day war on Iran] and now in Shaagat HaAri [ongoing war in Iran]”.
“Our pilots are prepared to reach anywhere in Iranian airspace if required,” he added.
‘Keep pressing forward’
The US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28, but a fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8. The US Navy maintains a blockade of Iranian ports.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the US-Israel war on Iran demonstrated the air force’s power and its decisive role in protecting Israel.
“The lessons of that campaign require us to keep pressing forward on force build-up to ensure air superiority for decades to come,” he said.
Katz said the new aircraft would lead to a significant technological leap in integrating autonomous flight capabilities and next-generation defence systems and in establishing Israeli military dominance in space.
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The shailoks needn't pay as all the arms will be at Wankee taxpayers expense, as per normal.
How I wish Einat Wilf will be the next Isaac PM.
ReplyDeleteHow is it that @UNRWA has refused to resettle 700,000 Palestinian Arab refugees after 75 years whereas UNKRA - created for Korean refugees - managed to resettle 3.1 million refugees in only three years and at one quarter of UNRWA's budget? @einatwilf explains:
https://x.com/cptallenhistory/status/2021353455324102828?s=46&t=8K6fzabO3g6uaj4KxwSSjg
This is still one of the most devastating comparisons exposing the UNRWA grift.
@EinatWilf explains:
UNKRA resettled 3.1 million Korean refugees in just 3 years — with a fraction of UNRWA’s budget — and then closed.
UNRWA? 75+ years later and the number of “refugees” has ballooned to millions of descendants because it was deliberately hijacked to perpetuate the refugee status as a political weapon against Israel instead of solving the problem.
This was purposeful. This was the plan. And the West continues to be complicit by funding it.
Mfer, people's choice mah.
DeleteOoop… Palestinian ain't human but humanoid animal to these zionists!
Falastinos will forever suffer as long as they refuse to MOVE ON.
ReplyDeleteSee….the North Koreans who ran to the South and became citizens now their descendants prosper with Samsung, K-Pop and Plastic Surgery. The Vietnamese who ran away to Aussie, Frenchie, US are now foreign citizens, living happily. The Pakis and Yindians & their anak vice cicik who moved during the 1948 Partition are now citizens of the country their grandparents chose. The Alsace region of France changed hands with Germany at least 4 times over history but today after WW2 the German-speaking locals accept the fact that the Germans lost the war and they are now FRENCH citizens. Type C’s accept Bolehland citizenship and do not seek the Right of Return to Fujian to reclaim ownership of their grandfather’s rice farm.
They have all MOVED ON.
Falastinos are Just Plain Stubborn Idiots.
mfer, tell yr mfering MOVE ON fart to the zionists lah.
DeleteThe land of Levant will forever suffer as long as those meeting zionists refuse to MOVE ON.
May Zion live a thousand years.
ReplyDeleteWan Wan Shui.