Development of the Lavie is Said to Be Right ‘on Target’

The development of the Lavie, the lightweight fighter plane Israel wants to build in cooperation with the United States, is now right “on target” following the nearly year-long delay in U.S. approval caused by Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in June, 1982.

This was stressed at a briefing for Israeli reporters yesterday at the offices of Grumman International Inc. in Rosslynn, Va., by George Kinnear, Grumman’s vice president in charge of its Washington operations, and Marvin Klemow, director of the Washington office of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). Grumman is developing the wing and tail for the Lavie.

Kinnear, a retired U.S. Navy Admiral, said there has been a lot of misinformation both in the U.S. and Israel about the Lavie, some of it due to deliberate “disinformation.” The Pentagon is presently conducting the technical review of Grumman’s portion of the plane needed before a license can be given by the U.S. to begin manufacture of the first prototype of the plane. The review which started June 10, takes 60-90 days.

Perhaps more important is that the White House and the National Security Council are studying whether to allow U.S. foreign aid funds to be used for the research and development of the Lavie. There is no question about them being used for the U.S. portion of the production of the Lavie since the military aid is designed for the purchase of military equipment in the U.S.

However, Klemow pointed out that foreign aid funds were allowed to be used for the development of the Lavie engine and have been used for the development of other weapons designed by Israel.

THE ROLE OF THE LAVIE

As explained by Kinnear, Israel authorized development of the Lavie in 1980 to meet the qualitative and quantitative threat its military experts predict for the period 1990 to 2010. The plane is being “tailor made” for Israel to replace the Kfir and the Skyhawk and in its later stages, the F-4. It is not being designed to replace the larger more sophisticated F-15, Kinnear said.

There have been reports that the Pentagon has been concerned about the export of sophisticated American technology abroad in the Lavie design. But Kinnear stressed that there is no technology that is not now available on the world market. All the material for the Lavie is also available now commercially, he noted.

The Lavie will, however, be built at a lower cost, mainly because only five prototypes are being planned rather than the usual 12 or more and because less paper work is involved. The Lavie is estimated to be 16 to 30 percent less expensive than U.S. planes. As an example, it was shown that 300 Lavie would cost about $10.9 billion as compared to $13 billion for the F-16.

Kinnear noted that Israel is now receiving 75 F-16s from the U.S. and has to make $1 million in changes in each of the planes in order for it to meet Israeli specifications. He explained that the U.S. planes are designed to be used throughout the world and thus contains many features which Israel’s Air Force does not need but is included with the planes.

The development and the initial production costs in the U.S. are estimated to be $1.5 billion and are expected to provide 37,000 jobs in the United States. By the time IAI lets out all its contracts, some 100 companies throughout the U.S. will have worked on some part of the Lavie.

The first prototype is expected to be flown in Israel in 1985. Actual production is scheduled to begin in 1990 with 12 planes, eventually building 36 planes a year. Klemow said this will provide 12,000 permanent jobs in Israel. He said in the first years more of the work will be done in the U.S. but as production continues, the U.S. contribution will lessen and the percentage of the work in Israel will increase until almost all of it is done there.

Kinnear noted that since the planes will not be ready for production until 1990, it will be at least 15 years until Israel could even consider trying to export the Lavie so the plane cannot be considered as competition for any U.S. planes now on the market. Northrop has been the major U.S. company opposed to the Lavie, arguing that it will compete with its F-20.

The co-production of the Lavie will provide many benefits to the U.S., Kinnear said. He said that the technology being developed would be useful to the U.S. and that the engineering teams assembled by the various companies would be kept together at a time when production for the U.S. military has slackened.

The co-production also “enhances U.S.-Israeli relations” as well as shows other countries that the U.S. continues to support Israel’s security, Kinnear said.