Sky-high price of US fighter jet endangers Israeli purchase

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Recent hikes in the price of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, are holding up the signing of a contract between the Israel Air Force and Lockheed Martin, a senior IDF source told The Jerusalem Post.

Last month, the Pentagon acknowledged for the first time that earlier predictions that the plane would cost $50 million-$60 million were inaccurate and that the real cost of the plane would be closer to $100m.

Air Force Maj.-Gen. Charles R. Davis, head of the JSF Program in the Pentagon, conceded in a talk at the Brookings Institution that the cost would likely be somewhere between $80m.-$90m.

The IDF source, who is familiar with the project and the necessary budget, said the IDF believed the cost would pass the $100m. mark, making it very difficult for Israel to follow through with its initial intention to purchase 75 aircraft.

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