F-35 defects put Israeli air force in dilemma: Israeli media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
30 Jul 2022 19:42
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After the US Air Force announced that the majority of its F-35A jets were grounded to check on the ejection seat issue, the Israeli Air Force expressed extreme concern about the issue.

F-35 jet (Archive)

Israeli media reported on Saturday that the United States Air Force has grounded its F-35A jet fleet, citing a potentially faulty component in the ejection seat that could endanger pilots in an emergency, a concern that has also grounded other types of military planes used for training.

IAF head Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar will soon conduct an assessment of the situation in the matter and will decide whether to stop the flights of the Israeli formation of F-35 planes as per Israeli Army Radio.

Simultaneously, several Israeli media outlets highlighted that the Israeli Air Force is clearly concerned over the ongoing issue.

In further detail, the problem with the Martin-Baker ejection seat is caused by cartridge actuated devices (CADs), which are explosive cartridges used inside ejection seats to propel the seat out of an aircraft during an emergency.

The US Navy announced earlier this week that certain production lots of CADs used in Martin-Baker ejection seats had been identified as defective and in need of replacement, but it had not previously stated that the F-35 fleet was at risk.

The Israeli media described it as an incident of paramount importance.

"Halting the flights of 50 operational planes is a dramatic issue for the Israeli army," media reports say, adding that the emergency situation "replays difficult questions raised at the beginning of the way about the reliability and safety of Israel's F-35I Adir”, according to Israeli media.

Israeli correspondents considered that discussing an operating system malfunction is a serious predicament for the Israeli Air Force, which considers aerial superiority as its winning ace in its aggressions and wars.