DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: IDF Moves Forward On Second JSF Squadron

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: IDF Moves Forward On Second JSF Squadron 

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 12, 2012: The IDF plans to approve the procurement of a second squadron of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at a meeting of the General Staff later this month that will convene to finalize the military’s multi-year program.

Called Oz (Hebrew for Strength), the new multi-year program is scheduled to go into effect towards the end of the year. Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz will oversee deliberations on the program over the next few weeks and will bring the final plan to the government for approval.

One of the plan’s key elements is expected to be the procurement of a second squadron of F-35s despite reports of possible delays and a rise in cost.

On Tuesday, the US Senate Armed Services Committee questioned the quality of production of the aircraft by Lockheed Martin citing a “potentially serious issue” with its electronic warfare capability.

“The committee is... concerned about production quality and whether it is sufficient to ensure the delivery of JSF aircraft to the US and its allies at an affordable price,” the committee said in a report accompanying its fiscal 2013 defense budget bill.

Israel placed an order for its first squadron of F- 35s in October 2010 for $2.75 billion. Under the deal, Israel was supposed to receive 20 aircraft but the number could drop due to the rising cost per plane. The aircraft are expected to begin arriving in Israel sometime in 2017.

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http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/06/dtn-news-israeli-defense-news-idf-moves.html

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: Stealth Yansh - The Israeli Top Secret Radar-Evading Chopper Used To Drop Spies In Iran

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: Stealth Yansh - The Israeli Top Secret Radar-Evading Chopper Used To Drop Spies In Iran

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 17, 2012: According to F. Michael Maloof, a former Pentagon senior policy analyst the Israeli Air Force is equipped with the same Stealth Black Hawk helicopter used by the U.S. Navy SEALs to kill Osama Bin Laden last year.

Believed to be an exclusive U.S. “black project”, the radar-evading chopper (most probably a quiet one, rather than an actual helicopter invisible to radars), such helos would be used by the IAF to drop Iranian dissidents into Iran to gather intelligence on the Tehran’s nuclear program, according to a report written by Maloof for G2 bulletin, a global intelligence newsletter.

(Read complete strory on Defense-Technology News - Click on link undermentioned) 

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-israeli-defense-news-stealth.html

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: The Israeli Red Flag

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: The Israeli Red Flag

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 24, 2012: For the third time in the last six months the Israeli Air Force has hosted foreign fighter pilots for tactical training. Israeli fighter pilots are considered the best trained in the world, and Israel maintains a special training program, complete with pilots trained and equipped to operate as likely foes would, to train their own pilots. The latest nation to send fighters and pilots for training is Poland, flying F-16s in for that purpose. Previously, Italy had sent Typhoons and Tornados and Greece F-16s.

The Israeli training center is based on the one pioneered by the U.S. Air Force Red Flag program and the U.S. Navy's Top Gun training. Using American aircraft for "aggressor (or dissimilar) training" began in the 1960s. The original "Top Gun" fighter pilot school was established in 1969, by the U.S. Navy, in response to the poor performance of its pilots against North Vietnamese pilots flying Russian fighters. What made the Top Gun operation different was that the training emphasized how the enemy aircraft and pilots operated. This was called "dissimilar training". In the past, American pilots practiced against American pilots, with everyone flying American aircraft and using American tactics. It worked in World War II because the enemy pilots were not getting a lot of practice and were using similar aircraft and tactics anyway. Most importantly, there was a lot of aerial combat going on, providing ample opportunity for on-the-job training. Not so in Vietnam, where the quite different Russian-trained North Vietnamese were giving U.S. aviators an awful time. The four week Top Gun program solved the problem. The air force followed shortly with its Red Flag school.

Over the last 40 years the two training programs have developed differently, and the entire concept of "dissimilar training" has changed. The navy kept Top Gun as a program to hone a fighter pilot's combat skills. The air force made their Red Flag program more elaborate, bringing in the many different types of aircraft involved in combat missions (especially electronic warfare). But after the Cold War ended it became increasingly obvious that none of America's potential enemies was providing their fighter pilots with much training at all.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Strategy Page

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/03/dtn-news-israeli-defense-news-israeli.html 

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: 5 Rockets Hit Israel - IAF Strikes In Gaza

DTN News - ISRAELI DEFENSE NEWS: 5 Rockets Hit Israel - IAF Strikes In Gaza

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 10, 2012: South still under fire as terrorists continue to launch rockets at Israel. IDF Spokesperson says terror alert remains despite successful airstrikes in Gaza.

Residents of southern Israel were still under fire Saturday evening, as terrorists continued to launch rockets from the Gaza Strip. Five Qassam rockets exploded in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.

An IDF spokesman said that IAF aircraft hit a weapons storage facility in the northern Gaza Strip. The strike came in response to earlier rocket barrages fired from Gaza. According to the statement, the target was hit directly.

"Hamas, which uses the other groups to carry out acts of terror against the State of Israel, will be held responsible for any future operation that the IDF choose to launch in order to eliminate the threat of terror and restore relative calm to the region," the IDF statement read.

An Israeli army sapper examines the remains of a mortar shell fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip that landed in a kibbutz on the Israel-Gaza border, Saturday, March 10, 2012. Despite Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire, both sides remained defiant with Palestinians firing more than 100 rockets, some striking major cities in southern Israel, and the military responding with the targeted killings of more than 15 militants.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/03/dtn-news-israeli-defense-news-5-rockets.html