Testbed aircraft key to Israel’s enhanced F-35
As the introduction of Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35 Adir fighter aircraft begins to gather pace, the pending arrival of a testbed aircraft will spur the upgrade of the fleet with Israeli-developed content.
The second IAF F-35 squadron was inaugurated on 23 January and to date 20 aircraft have been delivered. The service now expects the delivery of a one-off Lockheed Martin F-35 testbed aircraft in mid-2020, together with six additional aircraft as part of the 50 under contract.
The IAF has prepared a list of weapon systems and ‘functional’ systems that it intends to test on this special F-35
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