A secret report by the State Comptroller several months ago warned that the Lavi fighter plane project could seriously impede the Israel Air Force because of its rapidly escalating costs, and sharply criticized the judgement and decision-making process of all involved with the Lavi, Haaretz reported Sunday.
According to the State Comptroller, the cost of developing the Lavi increased by 148 percent between 1980 and 1985 and the estimated production cost per unit soared by 108 percent in the same period.
The Comptroller’s report charged the Israel Defense Force General Staff and the IDF Chief of Staff with failure to grasp “the whole picture” or to realize “the damage to the IDF’s overall resources” financing the Lavi would cause.
Israel Air Force Commander Gen. Amos Lapidot was taken to task by the Comptroller for not giving serious consideration to the negative effects of the Lavi project on other Air Force projects and needs.
“From the military standpoint the decision to manufacture the Lavi binds the defense establishment and restricts the flexibility of its decision,” the Comptroller stated according to Haaretz. The report seems to bear out American objections to the Lavi on a cost basis.
It recommends, as the Pentagon has done, that instead of going ahead with the Lavi, now being test-flown, Israel buy F-16C aircraft from the U.S. which are 33 percent cheaper.
The comptroller also recommended establishment of a body to monitor similar projects in the future.
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