Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealhead
IAI developed a Mirage III based airframe even before the Kfir known as the Nesher. The most major difference was that the Kfir uses a Pratt & Whitney J79
rather than a French engine.
The IDAF F-15 and F-16 are also highly modified they have more advanced avionics than the USAF counterpart especially the IDAF version of the F-15E.
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The J79 engine is built by General Electric
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric_J79.
The F-15E is essentially a " Mud mover " modified for attack missions and close in support instead of as an air superiority fighter.
As you said, Israel also produced the Nesher , which was a copy of the Dassault Mirage 5. They exported a number of them to Argentina as Daggers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Nesher
Israel obtained the plans to the French Mirage series fighter Jets
Quote : Many Western nations banned the sale of arms to Israel after the war , in particular the French President De Gaulle. This led to several successful operations by the Israeli secret service. The first involved the theft of plans of the French Mirage III fighter. The Israelis relied on French aircraft and although their own aircraft project was underway it was far from complete. Mossad and Lekem decided to steal the plans for the Mirage III which they did via a contact in Switzerland paying the measly sum of £85,000 for the plans. These enabled the Israelis to build their own aircraft the Kfir which was heavily based on the Mirage III.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles...li_covert.html
As you said, the IDAF F-15 and F-16 were heavily modified for their own use. To say they have more advanced avionics than their U.S counterparts is a bit of a misnomer though. Israel modified their early F-15A and F-16A to Multi stage improvement program ( MSIP ) standards or to the D versions standards of those respective aircraft. The IDAF did however install indigenous equipment to their Air Force of F-15 and F-16's that the U.S doesn't use. This includes modifications to the fire control system to utilize their IDAF developed Python series of AA missiles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(missile)
I would bet that those of the U.S and IDAF are pretty similar though, given the nature of their cooperation.
em2nought
Grey Wolf
There are probably some good parts on the F-35, maybe with cannibalism Israel can build a good aircraft.
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LOL. Time will tell on the F-35 .