Israel Promises Big JSF Buy: The Israel Air Force plans to replace its F-16s with more than 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, the service’s chief procurement officer tells Israeli business journal Globes. Brig. Gen. Zeev Snir said Israel would be purchasing all three variants, with the first standard takeoff and landing models to come into service in the mid-2010s. According to Snir, the snit over not getting access to JSF computer data was no snit at all.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.