MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, Kalman along with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman participated in a rollout celebration of F-35 designed for the IAF.
"We want to reach 75 jets… The Israeli F-35 is the first fifth-generation fighter to arrive in the Middle East, and it will allow us to open a significant gap in our abilities when facing all of the elements in the area," Kalman said, as quoted by the IAF.
16 June 2016, 20:32 GMT
Previous agreements between the United States and Israel included the purchase of 33 F-35s, however Israel's Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot approved recommendation to increase the number of F-35s to 50.
The F-35 project is the most ambitious and expensive weapon system in the history of the US Defense Department, with a cost of some $1.5 trillion.
