US accelerates Israeli F-35 upgrade due to Hamas attack
The United States has accelerated work to upgrade Israeli fifth-generation F-35I Adir fighter jets due to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. About it told Executive Director of the F-35 Program Office Michael Schmidt, Defense News reports.
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Logistics Bill LaPlante noted at a House Tactical Air and Army Subcommittee hearing that the F-35 program office was able to expedite the dispatch of updated mission data files to one country. According to him, the data was transferred “in a week or a week and a half.”
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Schmidt clarified that the deputy minister meant Israel. It is noted that mission data files contain information about the threats that the aircraft may encounter during missions, and other data necessary for conducting combat operations.
A spokesman for the F-35 program office stressed that the aircraft have performed “absolutely outstanding” in operations against Hamas. “We've added some capabilities to this aircraft in a very short period of time,” Schmidt added.
In November, the Israel Defense Forces announced the use of the F-35I to intercept a cruise missile. This episode became the first known case of a similar target being hit by an American fifth-generation fighter, the F-35.
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