Sun, Nov 16, 2003
First F-16I On Its Way To The Holy Land
The first of 102 F-16Is is on its
way to Israel and IAF pilots are itching to get their hands on it.
It's a longer-range variant, with a flight radius of 862 kilometers
and it's a brand new design. The Jerusalem Post reports that not
even the USAF flies this type of aircraft.
When all 102 of the new aircraft arrive in Israel, the Jewish
state will have the second-largest air force in the world, behind
only the United States, according to the Post. They're being built
by Lockheed-Martin to exact Israeli standards. In fact, no Israeli
pilot has even flown one yet. But already, it has a nickname: Sufa.
It's Hebrew for "thunderstorm."
"We went through a conversion course in the United States and we
flew the simulator. But we will only fly the real thing when it
comes to the country, said an unnamed lieutenant colonel stationed
at the F-16 base deep in the Negev Desert. "But after we flew the
simulator we got real itchy to get in the cockpit and fly it
already."
That flight officer was plucked from his post as commander of an
Israeli F-15 squadron to take over the fleet of new Israeli F-16Is.
"This is a jet that doesn't exist elsewhere. We did not buy a jet
that has experience in the US Air Force. This means that we will
reach maturity in stages and it will take a while for the squadron
to ripen and the jet reaches its full capacities," the 36-year-old
squadron leader said. "My hope is for us to be the spearhead of the
IAF."
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