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| F-35 Fighter Jet |
TEL AVIV, - The fifth generation stealth fighter jet reportedly still faces many problems, ranging from small to critical, even after two decades of manufacture and spent billions of dollars.
When the manufacturer - Lockheed Martin United States (US) - was trying to fix it, Israel actually wanted to make major modifications to the problematic jet.
Israel will make some major modifications to the F-35 jet that has been ordered from Lockheed Martin in an effort to make the aircraft in accordance with the country's vision of how fighter planes must operate, as well as to improve their capabilities and fix certain problems.
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The Zionist military effort was revealed by The National Interest in its report on October 19, 2019. According to the report, one of the important things that would be changed by Israeli experts was the fighter computer system. Tel Aviv wants to adapt it to its own Command, Control, Communications and Computing (C4) system, which will run "on top" of the Lockheed Martin operating system.
The latter has caused many problems with other countries ordering F-35, because they want access to the opening code to modify it. Lockheed Martin, so far, has only given them limited access.
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| F-35 Fighter Jet |
The fighter jet's on-board computer collects all information gathered from its sensors, including the location of possible enemy forces' placement and installation. All information is then passed on to other land-connected systems, which include allied forces, air defense systems, or artillery. But not all systems are compatible with F-35; that's why Israel wants to install C4 appropriately to be able to convey information from jet fighter sensors to its own military system.
While installing a new system on an on-board computer was possible without major changes to the jet itself, other modifications that were in the Israeli military's mind would require major changes to the aircraft's design. As such, Tel Aviv has successfully negotiated the manufacture of around 30 F-35I Adir F-35I fifth-generation fighter jets specifically modified.
The National Interest magazine indicates that when the entire list of changes to fighter jets as part of the modification program is still unclear, it will display an option to install a plug-and-play third-party addition. One such addition is pod-jamming radar, which is expected to help jets bypass enemy defenses even after other countries are looking for ways to detect F-35s.
Other changes made to the F-35 as part of its "I" modification were the ability to use Israeli weapons, such as short-range air-to-air (air-to-air) Python missiles or guided precision bombs from the Spice family.
Israel is also trying to increase the operational range of the American jet by adding the ability to install an external fuel tank. Two such options are expected to be available. One of them is a non-stealth tank that can be thrown in the middle of a flight to restore the ability to get out of defense when needed. Israel also wants to develop a fuel tank system together with Lockheed Martin that does not harm stealth or jet aerodynamics.
The list of changes on the F-35I could be longer, but it seems that Israel wants to perfect the jet to meet its own regional needs. Some weaknesses in the fighter jet were reported to cause concern among aircraft pilots.
