{"id":96050,"date":"2026-05-03T19:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/96050\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T19:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:23:08","slug":"israel-buying-more-f-35s-f-15ias-fighter-jets-netanyahu-announces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/96050\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel buying more F-35s, F-15IAs fighter jets, Netanyahu announces"},"content":{"rendered":"

JERUSALEM \u2014 Israel\u2019s <\/a>Ministry of Defense announced Sunday that the country will acquire a fourth squadron of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters<\/a> and second squadron of F-15IA fighter jets, a massive expansion of the Israeli Defense Force\u2019s air power in the wake of the Iran campaign.<\/p>\n

With each squadron amounting to 25 new warplanes, the deal would give Jerusalem among the largest fleets in the world of both the fifth-gen stealth F-35, produced by Lockheed Martin, and the Boeing-produced F-15EX, which is branded as the F-15IA in Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deals, valued at tens of billions of NIS, include full fleet integration into the Israeli Air Force, comprehensive sustainment, spare parts, and logistics support,\u201d Israel\u2019s Ministry of Defense said in the statement, although no specific details on final price or timeline were shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new squadrons will serve as a cornerstone of the IDF\u2019s long-term force development, addressing evolving regional threats and preserving Israel\u2019s strategic air superiority,\u201d the ministry statement added, noting that Israeli officials in the US will begin moving forward on next steps to finalize the agreement with Washington.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced the new purchases in a statement on the same day as the announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur pilots can reach any point in the skies of Iran, and they are prepared to do so if required. We have incredible aircraft and we have incredible pilots,\u201d he said. \u201cRegarding strengthening: We are acquiring two squadrons of advanced aircraft \u2013 the F-35 and the F-15IA. These aircraft bolster Israel\u2019s overwhelming air superiority, a superiority that was proven in Operation Rising Lion and now in Operation Roaring Lion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for Lockheed and Boeing could not immediately be reached for comment. <\/p>\n

Israel first sent a Letter of Request for the F-35, which it called the F-35I Adir, back in 2009, leading to a\u00a0deal<\/a>\u00a0in 2012. The country\u00a0became<\/a>\u00a0an early user of the aircraft when the first F-35s\u00a0arrived<\/a>\u00a0in 2016, and flew the first known combat operations with the jet in 2018. In 2020 a second F-35 squadron was opened as more planes arrived. In 2024, amidst a multi-front war which began with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 3, 2023, Israel moved forward to\u00a0acquire<\/a>\u00a0a third squadron of F-35s, bringing the total of 75 airframes on order, of which 48 are currently active.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s announcement would boost the F-35I fleet to 100 planes, making them a top user of the jet; According to a January 2026 fact sheet from Lockheed, only the US, UK, Italy and Japan have acquired more of the fifth-generation plane. Australia, like Israel, is seeking 100 F-35s. Over 1,300 F-35s had been delivered by January 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jerusalem is still in the process of acquiring its first squadron of F-15IAs, the result of a $5.2 billion deal<\/a> signed in November 2024. The decision to buy a second tranche of the Boeing-made jets comes as the US Air Force also announced plans to expand its procurement<\/a> of the F-15EX.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the recent conflict with Iran, which began on February 28 with Israeli and US strikes on Iran, proved the air force\u2019s role in protecting the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lessons of that campaign require us to keep pressing forward on force buildup, to ensure air superiority for decades to come. The F-35 and F-15IA acquisitions are central to the \u2018Shield of Israel\u2019 plan, which is designed to give the IDF a lasting qualitative edge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlongside immediate wartime procurement needs, we have a responsibility to act now to secure the IDF\u2019s military edge ten years from now and beyond,\u201d Israel\u2019s Ministry of Defense Director General Amir Baram added. \u201cThe approval of this procurement is the first major step in executing the 350-billion-NIS force buildup plan<\/a> for an intense security decade ahead,\u201d Baram noted. \u201cThe complementary capabilities of these two squadrons will give the Israeli Air Force the flexibility to handle a broad range of combat scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n

IDF Military Expansion<\/p>\n

The purchases are part of a major expansion of the Israeli Air Force in recent years. This has included the 2022\u00a0deal<\/a>\u00a0for heavy lifter CH-53K helicopters and\u00a0new<\/a>\u00a0KC-46A refuelers. In addition, Israel is\u00a0acquiring<\/a>\u00a030 new Apache helicopters and keeping its existing squadrons of the combat helicopters, rather than closing them.<\/p>\n

Katz said that as part of the plan to expand the air force, the service will \u201cbe expected to lead a major technological leap \u2014 integrating autonomous flight capabilities, next-generation defense systems, and establishing Israeli military dominance, both defensive and offensive, in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Israel \u201cwill continue to invest, to grow stronger, and to stay ahead of our enemies \u2014 to keep Israel secure today and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel has also expanded its ground forces, creating new units and bolstering its armored corps, as well as rolling out new artillery. The country is also investing heavily in domestic production of munitions.<\/p>\n

In his statement today, Netanyahu also said that as part of Israel\u2019s investment in domestic production of armaments and defense technology, the country \u201cwill develop groundbreaking Israeli-made aircraft.\u201d He did not elaborate on this project.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s announcement also comes as the US announced it had approved Israel to procure 10,000 new Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems<\/a> (APKWS) at an estimated price tag of almost $1 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JERUSALEM \u2014 Israel\u2019s Ministry of Defense announced Sunday that the country will acquire a fourth squadron of F-35…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1726,2533,33774,2092,3804,37,33775,733,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-96050","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-air-force","9":"tag-boeing","10":"tag-f-15ex","11":"tag-f-35","12":"tag-global","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-israeli-f-35i-adir","15":"tag-lockheed-martin","16":"tag-middle-east"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116512279909670673","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}