The Finance Ministry, vehemently opposed to the Lavi fighter plane project, has submitted statistics comparing unfavorably its costs with the latest model American F-16s, an aircraft of similar capabilities.
The Finance Ministry also sharply criticized the Defense Ministry for its handling of the Lavi project. It accused the defense establishment of deliberately failing to inform the Treasury of the Lavi’s actual costs, Haaretz reported Tuesday.
According to senior Finance Ministry sources quoted by the newspaper, the remaining development costs of 75 Lavi jets exceed by $2 billion the price of 75 F-16s. The Lavi’s overall maintenance is estimated at $3.5 billion compared the defense establishment’s 1980 estimate of $1.23 billion, the sources said.
From start to finish, the cost of producing 150 Lavi aircraft is $82 million per plane, compared to $35 million per F-16, according to the Finance Ministry estimates.
The Ministry conceded that abandonment of the Lavi project would affect the jobs of some 4,500 employees of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) in the short term. But even if the Lavi is shelved, there will be no change in the government’s manpower needs, because the $300 million provided by the U.S. for the Lavi would be applied to research and development in other high technology industries, the Ministry said. It predicted a demand for even more workers than are presently employed on the Lavi project.
The Lavi is Israel’s second-generation jet fighter. Originally, 300 were projected but now only 75 are slated to go into production in the early 1990s, Haaretz reported.
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