Israeli Defense Minister Visits Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Facility

The Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon visited the Lockheed Martin F-35 assembly line Thursday where the 5th Generation fighter aircraft is being built.

This is the first time Minister Yaalon has been to the facility since the Israeli and U.S. government agreed in October 2010 to the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of 19 F-35A Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) jets. The first two Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35s will deliver in 2016 for training at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., with seven F-35As to be delivered in 2017 and 10 in 2018.

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries.