Joint Warplane Signals Business as Usual

Israel and the United States used the inauguration of a joint warplane project on Tuesday to stress it was business as usual in an alliance hit by acrimony over Israeli building in east Yerushalayim and strategy against Iran.

At a ceremony at the Israeli manufacturer of wings for Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 jet fighter, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon described his country’s participation in the project as evidence that bilateral ties were bulletproof.

“The special relationship between the United States and Israel is stronger than any disagreement,” Yaalon said in a speech at the new wings factory in state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) campus near Tel Aviv.

“And there is no dispute on the gratitude that the people of Israel owe the United States for supporting our strength and security,” said Yaalon, whose scorn for Palestinian peace talks has raised hackles in Washington.

IAI is scheduled to make more than 800 sets of F-35 wings, while another Israeli company, Elbit Systems, will produce helmets for the pilots. Susan Ouzts, vice-president of international programs at Lockheed, put the value of Israel’s contribution to the F-35 project at $4 billion.

Israel has bought 19 F-35s for $2.75 billion, with deliveries expected to begin in 2016, and could soon order between 25 and 31 more of the planes, defense sources said.

They said Yaalon was expected to decide on that purchase on Wednesday at a meeting of Israeli officials kept low-key because of Finance Ministry misgivings about the large defense budget.

Israel is also uncertain to what extent it can bank on U.S. grants to underwrite long-term defense procurement after Washington’s current payouts of some $3 billion annually expire in 2017. Both sides expect the grants to continue, though negotiations on the exact amount have yet to be concluded.

Defense sources said Israel would likely decide against buying six V-22 tilt-rotor special forces planes, also on offer from the United States for some $600 million, and use some of the money for more locally-designed Namer armored vehicles, whose parts are made by U.S. company General Dynamics.

A U.S. official said the Israelis were trying to persuade Washington to preserve the proposed V-22s price — which represents a 40 to 50 percent discount — or a future purchase option. This may prove too tall an order for the Americans, given the interest of countries like UAE and Japan in buying V-22s, which are manufactured by Boeing and Bell Helicopter.

This article appeared in print on page 22 of the November 5th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.