On Wednesday the IDF pronounced the newest addition to the airforce, the F-35 stealh fighter jet, fully operational. The Jet, known in Hebrew as the “Adir”, first landed in Israel one year ago. Since then the planes have undertaken a lengthy acclimation procedure outfitting them appropriately for operation within the Israeli Airforce (IAF).

Special IAF teams received and outfitted nine F-35 Jets over the past year, getting them ready for the particular missions that the IAF wishes to use them for. The IAF will be the second air force in the world to deploy the F-35s in active service, behind the United States. This is another statement to the lengthy ongoing strategic partnership between the two countries.

The IDF spokesperson’s unit said regarding the activation of the new planes that: “This is another cog in the wheel of the overall plan of the IDF to continue advancing and innovating in the technological sphere as well as the fields of infrastructure, weaponry, training, logistics and more.”

In a letter sent by the Commander of the IAF, Major-General Amikam Nurkin, to the members of the IAF he wrote: “The announcement of the operational readiness of the new planes is occurring at a time when the air force is actively operating on a number of complicated fronts in a Middle East that is ever changing. The military challenges that we face change daily and will now be met be a higher quality airborne response. The operational readiness of the Adir adds a new critical level of development and adds to the ability as a military wing in a modern arena.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)