Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens said the Jewish state would have a partner in any project to develop and produce a fighter jet independent of the United States. Arens, who served three times as defense minister, cited France, India and Russia.
"Are there such candidates?" Arens asked. "In theory, yes. France, with a great aeronautical industry, chose not to participate in the [U.S.-led] F-35 project. India, with a considerable aeronautical capability and a meteorically growing economy, might be another candidate. And there is Russia."
In an article in the Israeli daily Haaretz on July 29, Arens, an aeronautics engineer, said an Israeli-origin combat aircraft could become an alternative to the U.S.-origin Joint Strike Fighter. Israel has been under strong U.S. pressure to purchase the F-35 despite reluctance of the project's main partners to order the aircraft amid major technical delays.
"Perhaps none of them would be interested [in an Israeli fighter-jet], and perhaps all of them would be," Arens said of Israel's potential development partners. "It's worth a try."
Industry sources said the United States has sought to block an Israeli attempt to produce a fighter-jet with other countries. In 2009, Washington pressured Israel to suspend plans by the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries to team with Sweden's Saab to produce an advanced version of the Gripen fighter-jet.
Under the program, Saab would provide the basic Gripen platform with IAI and other Israeli companies installing their avionics, electronic warfare and airborne weapons. The sources said the Indian Air Force had been interested in such a project.
Russia's Sukhoi was also said to have been wooing IAI for a joint aircraft project. The sources said Sukhoi offered to provide an advanced model fighter-jet for installation of Israeli-origin subsystems.
"We would have to look for partners who are prepared to invest resources in such a project, who have the necessary technological capability, and who are not involved in the F-35 project," Arens said.
Arens was a major supporter of Israel's Lavi fighter-jet project in the 1980s, canceled more than 20 years ago under heavy U.S. pressure. The U.S. Congress had approved $1 billion in aid, but the Defense Department as well as American contractors lobbied against Lavi, meant to exceed the capabilities of the F-16A/B model.
"Does Israel still have the technological capability to design a first-rate fighter aircraft?" Arens asked. "That needs to be examined in some depth. No doubt some of the capability that existed at the time of the Lavi project has been lost over the years, but as has been proved time and again, Israel has a world-class technological capability."
