U.S. arms firms jockey to sell advanced fighter jets to Israel

The representative of aerospace giant Lockheed-Martin in Israel, Brig. Gen. (res.) Yehoshua Shani, says any attempt to transform a plane not originally designed with stealth characteristics into a stealth aircraft has met with minor success.

The comments come as Lockheed and its main competitor Boeing compete to provide Israel with more planes.

In late March, Boeing presented a new version of its F-15, first flown in the early 1970s. The new version, the F-15 Silent Eagle, is meant to offer an alternative to the newest aircraft produced by Lockheed, the stealth F-35.

"There have been recent reports about attempts to minimize the radar signature of a fourth-generation fighter aircraft in order to make it less visible - semi-stealth," Shani wrote in the latest edition of Lockheed's bimonthly publication in Hebrew.

"It should be made clear that experience in the aerospace industry suggests that the stealth characteristics, like those of the F-22 and F-35, can be achieved only when characteristics of low visibility to radar are put into the aircraft from the start. Various changes to shape for minimizing the radar cross section of current-generation aircraft have had minor effect."

At a time when Israel and many other countries are debating whether to procure the F-35, Boeing is trying to get back into the game with the Silent Eagle.

Many U.S. allies, including Israel, had debated whether to share the cost of developing the F-35. The main reason for the reservations were the plane's price tag.

The U.S. refused to make the F-22 available to foreign buyers, and the Obama administration recently decided to suspend its production. The F-35 thus remains the most advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft available.

However, the estimated cost of a single aircraft for a foreign buyer range from $100 million to $200 million, though Lockheed strongly denies that the upper range is so high. For countries like South Korea and Singapore, who have based their fighter fleets on the F-15, Boeing's proposal may find a sympathetic ear.

Meanwhile, Israel's negotiations with the U.S. administration and Lockheed are expected to end with a deal early next year. For now, the gaps between the two sides are significant.

There are a number of issues in addition to the cost of the F-35, including disagreement over Israel's request for modifications in equipping the aircraft with locally produced electronics, the plane's relatively short range and limited bomb capacity, and the costs for establishing a separate maintenance infrastructure for the aircraft.

Another major issue is the projected delivery schedule, with 2014 being the earliest date the F-35 would arrive in Israel, and 2016 the date for the first operational squadron.

In comparison, some aspects of the Silent Eagle package make it a promising possibility. Boeing is talking about a $100 million price tag per aircraft, a significantly longer range than the F-35, and a maintenance infrastructure that could be based on the one for Israel's F-15 fleet. Delivery may begin by 2012.

However, the F-35 has two significant advantages. Stealth is a critical consideration for future fighter aircraft, especially because there are concerns in Israel that Russia might provide Iran and Syria with the advanced S-300 air defense system.

Boeing argues that some of the stealth F-15s will attack air defense systems so the conventional ones can reach their targets unharmed. Lockheed, on the other hand, offers full-fledged stealth, unless of course its technology is cracked by a radar system that detects stealth.

The second advantage is that the F-35 represents the cutting edge of technology in the field. Israel has always been keen to ensure that its jet fighters are the best in the market, despite cost. Based on the assumption that Arab states will also acquire the F-35, Israel will not want to lose the edge.

Air forces can also not ignore the deterrent element of having stealth attack aircraft in their fleets, to which every mysterious explosion in Iran will be attributed, true or not.

These considerations have already tipped the balance in favor of the F-35, as far as air force chief Ido Nehoshtan and his predecessor Eliezer Shkedi are concerned. Boeing's chances are thus relatively low, unless negotiations with Lockheed break down over price, for example.