Israel says it awarded a $42 million contract to Lockheed Martin to provide maintenance and training services for its fleet of F-35 fighter jets.
Israel�s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that under the deal, the U.S. defense contractor will support a training simulator and logistics management system at an Israeli air force base.
Israel will pay over half the cost in five years, with the rest contingent on a five-year extension.
Zeev Landau, Israel�s chief of air force and navy procurement, says the agreement has strategic importance �for the independence� of Israel�s air force.
Joshua Shani, CEO of Lockheed Martin Israel, says support will begin immediately.
Israel was one of the first countries to acquire the F-35 next-generation warplane and last year said it was the first to use it operationally.
(AP)
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I don’t know if we should be so happy about that..see Caroline Glick’s excellent analysis of the F-35 program in an article of about a year ago. Also Daily Beast article of today… Israel seems to have gotten the worst end of the deal (although Lockheed may need to pay for half of the repairs!)