The IDF has re-oriented its spending plans following the Second Lebanon War and is slicing in half Air Force plans to buy 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), Defense News reported. Approval was given to buy one squadron of 25 planes, and the five-year spending plan provides for another similar purchase.
Despite the cutbacks, Israel and the United States are continuing a bilateral program whose first phase studies future Air Force requirements. The recently approved Israeli spending plans includes funding for C-130 air lifter replacements but drops purchase of new attack helicopters and F-151 fighters.