13/01/2015
- - Fighter aircraft are among the most
decisive weapon systems in combat available. The most expensive
and best marketed is Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II, also
known as Joint Strike Fighter.. On a recent South Korean tender
for new fighter aircraft two giants in the world of aircraft, Boeing
and Airbus, had to team to tackle the strong position of
Lockheed.
Nine
countries are officially participating in the F-35 program,
all based in North America and Europe. They are grouped in levels.
The UK is the only Level I country, Italy and the Netherlands are
on Level II. Clients for the F-35 come from Asia and the Middle
East, including the UAE and last but not least Israel. Here the
heat comes around the corner. Because when countries join in F-35
production, the export policies of the US will be followed.
European restrictions on exports (which are only a EU common
position, not a law) will not be taken into account as is stated
in a number of Memoranda
of Understanding. This might go at the expense of human
rights and European security policy.
There
is no track record on the use of the F-35 fighter in combat
missions, because it is not operational yet. But what can be
expected can be deduced from looking at recent history of the F-35
predecessor, the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Also a multi-mission
fighter aircraft produced by Lockheed Martin for export. This can
also give an idea of which countries will become partner
in this Fighter bond (see illustration). The latest partner
which joined is Iraq, which has decided
to buy the F-16 in 2018.
F-16's have been used recently in international combat missions
in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. But also in internal
conflicts e.g.
by the Pakistan air force against internal uprising and
Taliban. The independent Pakistan Human Rights Commission report
“indiscriminate bombing and strafing” by F-16s, according to an
article in Le
Monde Diplomatique in October 2006.
Turkey is a key country in the F-35 project, because it a level
III partner, picked by the Pentagon as one of the heavy
maintenance hubs in Europe. Turkey has
been using all its fighter jet types over
the years in internal conflict, included its F-16's. In
December 2007, Ankara deployed fifty F-16's during one
operation against Kurdish strongholds just across the border in
Iraq. F-16's have been used in similar smaller operations until as
recent as October
2014. It is evident that fighter aircraft are not weapons to
be ignored when speaking about human rights. This might bring
European F-35 production partners in a painful position while they
will not be allowed to act according to their own arms export and
human rights policies .
This brings us at Israel, a country where European and American
positions often differ. Israel is using its fighter planes
regularly in combat operations against Palestine territories.
Fighters have been firing missiles and have bombed several targets
on
the West Bank in 2001 and more recently, in Gaza. The
Israeli peace organisation End the Occupation has collected examples
from 2012, showing how bombs and missiles were used against
homes, cars and refugee camps. During the summer of 2014, F-16's
have been used against Gaza. US
Defense News describes in detail why and how: “Hundreds of
the more than 6,000 targets struck from the air during Israel’s
50-day urban war in Gaza were from fighter jets delivering one-ton
bombs in record time.” The planes provided close combat support,
“with an F-16 dedicated to every brigade, precision air power
provided “pillar of fire” protection for friendly forces fighting
(...).”
Israel is not one of the nine F-35 program countries, but has
ordered 19 F-35s under a $2.75 billion contract. The planes are
expected to be delivered in 2016-2018. An additional procurement
is limited
to 13 JSF's (against originally planned 31 ) estimated to
cost $2.74 billion. Although Israel is not one of the 'nine', it
is also participating in the production of the F-35. Israeli arms
company Elbit Systems has been selected to join the production of
the
F-35’s helmet-mounted display systems together with Rockwell
Collins from the US. This is cutting edge technology, giving the
pilot e.g. situational awareness and cue weapons systems to the
direction his head is pointing. Thales' subsidiary Visionix's
officially complained that the used technology is a breach
of a Visionix patent. The US however claims
it has licence rights to the technology, because it has
subsidised Visionix' research. A helmet developed by British
Aerospace has been cancelled in favour of the Elbit/Rockwell one.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) delivered a Ehud
Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation system in
December 2014 to the Italian air force. “The pod has become the
standard in NATO, and with many air forces in Europe, Asia and
Latin America." IAI is adapting the system for installation on the
F-35 to train its pilots.
Remarkable is the opening in September 2014 of a IAI-production line for F-35 wings. It expects to produce 811 pairs of wings in the next 20 years. “It will provide wings for the Israeli air force’s F-35s, as well as for the U.S. Air Force and European customers, with the exception of Turkey,” stated Alon Ben David in Aviation Week & Space Technology (AW&ST, 19/11/14). The opening of the plant is considered “as evidence that bilateral ties [between the US and Israel] were bulletproof.”
Susan Ouzts, vice president of international programs at Lockheed Martin, said to Avition Week of November 19 that the total value of Israel’s contribution to the F-35 project will be $4 billion.
In 2013, Elbit
Systems of America established itself at the Logistic Center
Woensdrecht in The Netherlands. It will do European work on the
F-16 and expectedly also on the F-35. At the same location Fokker
Elmo – one of the Dutch companies delivering technology or
services for the fighters - will be responsible for the
engineering, manufacturing and production of the wiring for the
next batch of the F-35. The company optimistically
recons with “a total estimated production of more than 3,000
F-35 aircraft, this is a major opportunity for our company in the
decades to come in terms of employment, knowledge and innovation.”
This means the company expects to produce wiring for all F-35 jets,
included the Israeli ones. Recently the Dutch government announced
that the Netherlands can overhaul the F-135 engine of the JSF at
Woensdrecht. Both Dutch and Israeli defence companies will work
closely on the the new fighter plane at Woensdrecht.
The consequences of the cooperation on the F-35 Lightning II
programme, notably the undercutting of arms control policies, has
hardly been discussed. When production partners have to follow US
arms export policies policy it might come at the expense of the
European vision on security and human
rights.
Written for Stop Wapenhandel
Dutch version Ravage Webzine
