Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Eyeing Iran reactors, Israel flaunts new F-16 jets

By Dan Williams
20 Feb 2004 02:40

RAMON AIR FORCE BASE, Israel (Reuters) - Israeli military chiefs and politicians cheered the arrival on Thursday of the first in a fleet of U.S.-made warplanes bought to keep Israel's strategic edge over Middle East adversaries.

Two F-16I jets swooped into Ramon air base in the Negev desert, part of the biggest military purchase -- at $4.5 billion -- in the embattled 55-year history of the Jewish state. All told, 102 of the jets are to be delivered by the decade's end.

The F-16Is would upgrade Israel's advantage over Arab foes and extend its reach over much of Iran, whose atomic development programme is seen by many in Israel as an existential threat, although Tehran denies having hostile designs.

"We know full well that striving for peace in the Middle East demands demonstrable power...in areas close and far from Israel," Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said at the ceremony.

"What the (F-16I) is capable of doing increases the chance that there will be no need to use this capability."

The two planes, piloted by crews of two -- an American and an Israeli -- broke through a storm front to land at the air base in southern Israel.

Made by Texas-based manufacturer Lockheed-Martin, the F-16 has featured prominently in Israeli military operations. The first generation of the plane obtained by Israel was used to destroy Iraq's main atomic reactor Osirak in a sneak 1981 raid.

Now Israeli planners are preoccupied with the Iranian nuclear programme. Designers say the F-16I's enlarged fuel tanks and sensors, allowing it to skirt the ground even at top speeds, would make it ideal for another pre-emptive strike in the Gulf.

"The F-16I gives Israel a top-notch strategic advantage including against adversaries as far away as Iran," said Jane's analyst Robert Hewson. He put the maximum range of the F-16I at 1,600 km, with an option for mid-air refuelling.

Iran says its nuclear reactors are solely devoted to civilian uses rather than weaponry.

Western intelligence sources said some Iranian nuclear plants, such as the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility in central Iran, have been built underground and are designed to withstand an aerial attack.

The Bushehr nuclear reactor in southwestern Iran is surrounded by anti-aircraft batteries.

(Additional reporting by Paul Hughes in Tehran)

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