Israel Strikes $1 Billion Buy-Back Deal on F-35 Purchase

Defense News reports: TEL AVIV – Israel’s Defense Ministry announced Sunday that completed industrial cooperation or buy-back contracts with Lockheed Martin on the F-35 program surpassed the $1 billion benchmark since Israel signed its first contract in 2010 for an initial 19 fighters.

According to Avi Dadon, MoD’s deputy director of purchasing, Israeli firms entered into $258 million worth of new contracts during 2016, a 33 percent surge from the previous year.

“The scope of industrial cooperation between [Lockheed Martin] and Israeli industries, just in the past year, illustrates the big, raw potential of this deal to the Israeli economy,” Dadon said.

Read more here.