First F-16I On Its Way To The Holy Land

The first of 102 F-16Is is on its way to Israel and IAF pilots are itching to get their hands on it. It's a longer-range variant, with a flight radius of 862 kilometers and it's a brand new design. The Jerusalem Post reports that not even the USAF flies this type of aircraft.

When all 102 of the new aircraft arrive in Israel, the Jewish state will have the second-largest air force in the world, behind only the United States, according to the Post. They're being built by Lockheed-Martin to exact Israeli standards. In fact, no Israeli pilot has even flown one yet. But already, it has a nickname: Sufa. It's Hebrew for "thunderstorm."

"We went through a conversion course in the United States and we flew the simulator. But we will only fly the real thing when it comes to the country, said an unnamed lieutenant colonel stationed at the F-16 base deep in the Negev Desert. "But after we flew the simulator we got real itchy to get in the cockpit and fly it already."

That flight officer was plucked from his post as commander of an Israeli F-15 squadron to take over the fleet of new Israeli F-16Is. "This is a jet that doesn't exist elsewhere. We did not buy a jet that has experience in the US Air Force. This means that we will reach maturity in stages and it will take a while for the squadron to ripen and the jet reaches its full capacities," the 36-year-old squadron leader said. "My hope is for us to be the spearhead of the IAF."

FMI: www.idf.il/english/organization/iaf/iaf.stm