Israel's F-35 fighters to join multinational training

Israel's F-35 stealth fighters will join a multinational manoeuvre starting in the Jewish state next week, the military said Friday.

The air force will showcase the US-made plane at a time of high tensions between Israel and arch-foe Iran, with Israel regularly striking what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah military targets in Syria.

The United States, Germany, Italy and Greece will also participate in the "Blue Flag" excercise to be held in southern Israel from November 3-14, the military said in a statement.

It will be the first international 'Fifth Generation' exercise held in Israel involving the F-35, it said, referring to the most advanced fighter planes, typically employing stealth technology, advanced avionics and highly-integrated computer systems.

"This deployment will provide an opportunity for joint flights over a wide range of threat scenarios combined with advanced technology," it said, adding that the exercise would include over 1,000 personnel from different air forces.

Israel took delivery of its first two F-35s, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, in December 2016 and has since received several more.

It has agreed to buy a total of 50.

In May 2018, Israel air force chief Major General Amikam Norkin announced that the planes had made their combat debut.

"We have performed the first operational F-35 strike in the world," he said, without providing further details.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July warned that Israel's fighters "can reach anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran".

He spoke on a visit to an air force base where he inspected F-35s and appeared in a video with one of the planes behind him.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in neighbouring Syria against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah military targets.

It has vowed to keep Iran, which has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country's civil war, from entrenching itself militarily there.

The Jewish state also faces Iranian-backed Hezbollah across its border in Lebanon, with which it is technically at war.

Tensions spiked after two drones packed with explosives targeted Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut in August.

Hezbollah vowed to take down Israeli drones overflying Lebanon following the incident.

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LOCKHEED MARTIN

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