F 35i News Today

Israel's F-35I Adir, a variant of the American-made Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, stands as a pivotal asset in the nation's defense arsenal.

Since the Israeli-Hamas war commenced, the IAF has frequently used the F-35I to achieve its mission sets in Gaza. In November, Israel acknowledged that these jets were used to intercept and down a cruise missile.

Israel is now turning to stealth capabilities in the form of the F-35I variant of the oh-so-controversial Lockheed Martin Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

Noted analyst, Rebecca Grant, says an Israeli F-35I which shot down what’s believed to be a Houthi cruise missile has set a precedent which is “bad news” for China.

It was on Halloween that America's potential adversaries likely received an unpleasant surprise – as an Israeli F-35I Lightning II successfully shot down a cruise missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. It was the first-ever air-to-air kill of such a weapon by an F-35.

Perhaps the most critical alteration the Adir fighter possesses is its electronic warfare system (ESW). The F-35I sports domestically-produced sensors and countermeasures, along with Israeli-made helmet-mounted displays and other data-gathering and processing capabilities.

Israel just put the finishing touches on what may be the planet’s most advanced ISR aircraft. This weekend’s attacks have launched it into action sooner than expected.

This week, Israel’s Defense Ministry submitted an official request to the U.S. military’s Joint Program Office to purchase a third squadron of F-35 fighters.

Israel and other Middle East countries are fighting an increasingly critical war against UAVs or drones launched by Iran and its proxies in the region.  But as CBN Middle East correspondent Julie Stahl tells us, Israel is a world leader at fighting this menace.

The first nineteen stealth jets received by Israel will actually be standard F-35A land-based fighters, while the following thirty-one will be true F-35Is modified to integrate Israeli-built hardware.