haamimhagolan
07-10-2008, 12:26 PM
Israeli defense industries have already begun the process of developing a line of dedicated weapons and support equipment for the F-35 Lightning II.
As a stealth strike aircraft, the Lightning II differs from prior generations of fighters in that it must carry its weapons payload internally if it intends to retain its stealth characteristics. This puts additional constraints on the sizes of weapons that can be carried. Weapons that Israeli developers are reportedly at work on include:
Small diameter, high-impact bombs, under development at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
Conformal fuel tanks intended to increase the F-35's maximum range, under development at IAI, as well as more conventional, wing-mounted tanks under development by Cyclone Aviation.
Israel has already expressed a desire to install Israeli electronic warfare systems into the F-35's purchased by Israel. This is one of the items likely to be hotly debated when Israel submits its formal Request for Proposal to purchase the F-35 sometime in 2009.http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/07/03/225064/foreign-service-f-35-tackles-pricing-issue-for-foreign.html
As a stealth strike aircraft, the Lightning II differs from prior generations of fighters in that it must carry its weapons payload internally if it intends to retain its stealth characteristics. This puts additional constraints on the sizes of weapons that can be carried. Weapons that Israeli developers are reportedly at work on include:
Small diameter, high-impact bombs, under development at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
Conformal fuel tanks intended to increase the F-35's maximum range, under development at IAI, as well as more conventional, wing-mounted tanks under development by Cyclone Aviation.
Israel has already expressed a desire to install Israeli electronic warfare systems into the F-35's purchased by Israel. This is one of the items likely to be hotly debated when Israel submits its formal Request for Proposal to purchase the F-35 sometime in 2009.http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/07/03/225064/foreign-service-f-35-tackles-pricing-issue-for-foreign.html