September 21, 1998 (by Lieven Dewitte) -
The United States announced Tuesday it had offered to sell 30 F-15and 60 F-16 fighter jets to Israel for $5 billion to help maintain the Middle East ally's advantage over potential foes.
Israel already has bothF-15s and F-16s in its air force, but the United States stressed that the new F-15 "I" model ''enhances Israel's ability to defend itself'' and would maintain "Israel's qualitative edge'' in regional military strength.
The advanced F-15I ground attack jets are built by Boeing Co and theF-16 C and D models are made by Lockheed Martin Corp. Each aircraft package would be worth $2.5 billion, the total value of the deal being $5 billion. All of the jets would be equipped with advanced radars and special
LANTIRN navigation and targeting pods to give them ground-attack capability as well as air-to-air superiority.
All of the jets in the package would also be equipped to carry
AMRAAM missiles like those offered to the
UAE as well as other air-to-air and ground attack missiles.
