The former commander of the Israel Air Force has warned that Egypt will gain a distinct advantage in air power if the United States goes through with plans to sell Cairo the new J-79 jet engine.
Gen. (res.) Mordechai Hod, who headed the Air Force in the 1967 Six-Day War, said in a special interview published in Yediot Achronot today that the Egyptians could install the J-79 in their MIG-21 interceptors replacing the original MIG engines as they wear out. The Soviet Union has refused to supply Egypt with replacement engines.
The J-79, which powers the American Phantom jet, would increase the MIG’s rate of climb, give it greater speed and a longer range for patrolling and interceptor missions, Israeli experts have said. Hod observed that the Egyptian Air Force would thus be benefitting from two technologies–the Soviet and the American–while Israel is dependent solely on American technology This, he said, would be contrary to Washington’s repeated statements that it intends to preserve the balance of power in the Middle East.
Reports that the U.S. plans to sell the J-79 engine to Egypt surfaced in Washington last week, Hod said in the interview that the least the U.S. could do is condition the sales to a demand that Egypt end its state of belligerency with Israel. Otherwise the American statements about the balance of power are absurd and ridiculous, the former Air Force chief said.
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS SURMOUNTABLE
Israeli experts noted that the J-79 is heavier than the Soviet-built MIG engine and the Egyptians may be required to make some alterations in the MIG body before installing it. Foreign sources have indicated that it would take between 12-18 months to produce a prototype MIG with a Phantom engine and only after that was tested could the Egyptians proceed to replace the original engines in their MIG-21 fleet which consists of about 200 of the Russian-made aircraft.
However, Israeli sources said the technological problems are not insurmountable. They noted that the Chinese have installed British engines in their MIGs and Israel has transplanted American engines into its French-built Mirage jets. Israel’s own fighter aircraft, the “Kfir,” is powered by an American engine.
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