Israel’s government has officially sent a letter to the United States to complete the purchase of another 17 F-35s, according to Israeli media i24.
Citing Walla News, i24 reported on June 8, 2017, “Israel’s Ministry of Defense recently sent a letter to the US Department of Defense to complete the purchase of 17 F-35 jets.”
The Israeli government had already internally approved the additional acquisition, which was announced in November 2016.
The new purchase, once finalized, will bring Israel’s total order of F-35s to 50. Israel began receiving F-35s in December 2016, with the arrival of two jets. Another three arrived in April 2017. i24 reported that a third batch of two will arrive in August and another batch of two will be delivered in September. A total of nine may be delivered in 2018.
Alongside these, in 2020 Israel will receive a unique test F-35 separate from the other orders which will enable Israel to test upgrades.
Military markets analyst, covering Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa.
