Israel Buys 14 More F-35 Warplanes from U.S.
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by senior writer Benyamin Cohen.
Israel has signed a contract to buy 14 additional F-35 fighter jets from the United States for about $3 billion, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
The deal, approved by an Israeli cabinet committee in November, follows Israel’s purchase in 2010 of 19 F-35s, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N).
In a statement, the ministry said an agreement to buy the 14 additional aircraft was signed over the weekend and included an option for another 17 of the planes.
Israel’s first two F-35s will arrive by the end of 2016, with deliveries scheduled to be completed by 2021, the ministry said.
The Pentagon plans to spend nearly $400 billion to develop and build 2,457 of the radar-evading aircraft over the next two decades for the U.S. military and its allies.
