Israel Cuts 'White Elephant' F-35 Purchase from 31 to 14 Jets.

Israel Cuts 'White Elephant' F-35 Purchase from 31 to 14 Jets. (INN).

Intelligence Minister says other jets have much better maneuverability, weapons carrying capabilities.

The Ministerial Committee of Acquisitions decided Sunday to approve the purchase of 14 US-made F-35 stealth jets, instead of the 31 jets that the Defense Ministry and IDF wanted to buy. Israel will reserve the option tobuy additional F-35 jets at a later date.

The 14 jets are in addition to the 19 jets Israel has already committed to buying.

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) showed other ministers a presentation that cast doubt on the plane's true value, in comparison with other models of fighter jets in which Israeli technology can be fitted, which have better maneuverability and which have a far better capacity for carrying weapons than the stealth F-35.

"Since the plane is not yet operational in the US,” added Steinitz, “I suggested that we make do with the purchase of less than half the amount, and wait with decisions on purchasing additional jets, as several other countries – like Australia, Italy, Canada and Holland – have done.”

The favorable decision by a majority of the ministers, Steinitz noted, proves that the government does not have to be a rubber stamp of the defense establishment and can make decisions democratically.

The decision is seen by some pundits as a blow to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud), who announced the deal following a visit to the US this year. Hmmm....the 'Good news' is that Turkey will end up with them :)

Related: The U.S.'s F- 35 (White Elephant) Stealth Fighter Is Too Heavy and Slow, So the Pentagon Made Its Performance Tests Easier.

The U.S.'s F- 35 (White Elephant) Stealth Fighter Is Too Heavy and Slow, So the Pentagon Made Its Performance Tests Easier.

The U.S.'s F- 35 (White Elephant) Stealth Fighter Is Too Heavy and Slow, So the Pentagon Made Its Performance Tests Easier.(Motherboard- Vice).The Pentagon's pursuit of the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jet has been a heartbreaking one. If you're a tax payer, the program's estimated $1 trillion price tag probably breaks your heart a little bit. If you're an aviation enthusiast, the constant whittling away of the do-it-all aircraft's features, which in many cases actually amounts to adding weight and taking away maneuverability, must hurt a little bit, too.
If you're just an everyday American, though, you should be downright shattered that after a decade and a fortune spent, the F-35 will actually be more vulnerable than the aircraft it's replacing. At this point, the Pentagon is literally rewriting its rulebook so that the dumbed-down super jet will pass muster.
The Defense Department's annual weapons testing report reveals that the military actually adjusted the performance specifications for the consistently-underperforming line of F-35 fighter jets. In other words, they couldn't get the jets to do what they were supposed to do, so they just changed what they were supposed to do.
"The program announced an intention to change performance specifications for the F-35A, reducing turn performance from 5.3 to 4.6 sustained g’s and extending the time for acceleration from 0.8 Mach to 1.2 Mach by eight seconds," reads the report drafted under J. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. (The F-35A is the standard model, so to speak, that the Air Force will use. The line also includes the F-35B, the Harrier-like vertical landing version built for the Marines, and the F-35C, a Navy version that's optimized for aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings.)Hmmm.....As everything else with the Obama 'admin' lets lower the bar.Read the full story here