Israel Adds Hi-tech Warplanes

ISRAEL ADDS HI-TECH WARPLANES
New York Post ^ | 2/20/04 | ANDY SOLTIS



February 20, 2004 -- Israel's military brass yesterday cheered the arrival of the first in a new fleet of U.S.-made warplanes enabling their air force to reach anywhere in the Mideast. The two F-16I's were the first installment of Israel's biggest military purchase ever - $4.5 billion - to stock defenses with 102 of the state-of-the-art jets by the end of the decade.
Defense analysts noted the F-16I's enlarged fuel tank allows it to skirt the ground even at top speeds - enabling it to make pre-emptive strikes anywhere in the region, including against Iran's top-secret nuclear arms program.

Israel used the first generation of F-16s to blow up Iraq's main atomic reactor at Osirak in 1981.

At yesterday's ceremony welcoming the new jets, Army chief Moshe Yaalon hinted at their impact on the Mideast when he described the F-16I's as "a response to the threat of ground missiles and non-conventional weapons" facing Israel.

Iran says its nuclear reactors are solely devoted to civilian uses. But some have been built underground to withstand air attack or surrounded by anti-aircraft batteries.

This is good news,plus,I can only hope that the arabs realize that Israel is taking it's security very seriously-the Israeli's know that they cannot count on a democrapper US admin to side with the only democracy in the region.

Once Israel gits 2 or 3 squadrons of F16I's together-they'll be in a position to knock out some of Iran's nuclear weapons production facilities,as well as some of the nuclear plants producing the fissile material. Hopefully the Israeli's are also developing RNEP's(Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator) of their own-as they will come in very handy-for Iran's hardened sites and underground facilities.

not only that, but Israel has its own internal technology for warplanes that it does not share with the world. this makes them the most powerful airforce yet.

and you don't think the US has technology that they've been suppressing for decades from life extension to cancer cures to war technology...