For more than half a century, the United States has worked to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East. That could change if Qatar gets the F-35 Lightning II.

Israeli officials are growing more concerned regarding Qatar’s renewed interest in a potential F-35 Lightning II acquisition deal with the United States. According to a Channel 12 news report, Washington appears to be weighing the possible arms deal. Back in 2020, Doha reached the letter-of-request stage in the US foreign military sales procedure, but ultimately did not complete the process.

Israel remains focused on retaining its qualitative military edge (QME) over its hostile neighbors, and thus, the country wants to ensure that no other Middle Eastern nation flies advanced fifth-generation fighter jets. For more than half a century, the United States has worked to ensure Israel’s QME in the region. However, it appears Washington is moving ahead with potential defense deals with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and even Turkey in the near future.

About the F-35 Lightning II

As of this month, 20 countries have either adopted or are in the process of purchasing the F-35.

• Year Introduced: 2016
• Number Built: ~750
• Length: 51.4 feet
• Height: 14.4 feet
• Wingspan: 35 Feet
• Maximum takeoff weight: 70,000 lb class
• Engines: Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan with 40,000 lbs. thrust.
• Top Speed: Mach 1.6 (approximately 1,200 mph)
• Range: Over 1,350 miles with internal fuel (1,200+ nautical miles).
• Service Ceiling: Above 50,000 feet.
• Loadout: Internal 25 mm GAU-22/A cannon, two AIM-120 AMRAAMs, and two GBU-31 JDAMs.
• Aircrew: 1

Israel currently flies specially modified variants of the American-made F-35 Lightning II, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and F-15 Eagle platforms (the F-35I, F-16I, and F-15I, respectively). The Jewish state originally acquired the F-35I “Adir” fighter back in 2010, when the nation notably became the first outside the platform’s nine-nation co-development group to procure the aircraft. Israel was granted the highly unique version of the stealth jet so that domestically produced technologies could be incorporated. Specifically, the F-35I Adir has Israeli-made countermeasures and sensors, helmet-mounted displays, and other data-gathering and processing functions. The tailored electronic warfare system featured on the Israeli fighter enables the Israeli Air Force to better secure its borders from Iranian-affiliated proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen.

While the Lightning IIs that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey could all potentially acquire would not be of the Adir iteration, the platform’s top-tier capabilities would elevate these nations’ aerial skills. Last month, US president Donald Trump announced on the eve of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington that an F-35 deal should be expected. “I will say that we will be doing that,” Trump said when asked if he would sell the jets to Saudi Arabia. “We’ll be selling F-35s.” In December, US officials said that Washington could consider a potential arms deal with Turkey only if Ankara were to give up its Russian-designed S-400 missile defense system it purchased previously.” As laid out in U.S. law, Turkiye must no longer operate nor possess the S-400 system to return to the F-35 program,” U.S. ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack wrote in a statement on his X account. Only time will tell if any of these arrangements will actually come to fruition down the line.

About the Author: Maya Carlin

Maya Carlin, national security writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues. Carlin has bylines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.

Image: Shutterstock.com / Davidi Vardi

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