Pentagon announces $8.6 billion Boeing contract for Israeli F-15 fighter jets

Boeing was given an $8.6 billion contract for the F-15 Israel Program, the Pentagon said Monday, after US President Donald Trump met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.

“This contract provides for the design, integration, instrumentation, test, production, and delivery of 25 new F-15IA aircraft for the Israeli Air Force with an option for an additional 25 F-15IA aircraft,” the Pentagon said.

The F-15IA is the Israeli variant of the advanced F-15EX fighter jet, the latest update of the decades-old F-15, Israel’s most relied-upon fighter aircraft, with heavy use in the campaigns against Iran, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hezbollah in Lebanon over the past two years.

Last November, Israel signed a $5.2 billion deal for 25 F-15IA jets, which were slated to be supplied in batches of four to six per year, starting in 2031.

With Monday’s announced deal, another 25 jets will be made for Israel, bringing the total number of F-15IAs to 50, adding to the 66 other F-15 variants in the Israeli Air Force’s fleet.

Trump: ‘Seriously’ considering Turkey F-35 sale

Meanwhile, Trump said Monday that his administration is leaning toward selling top-end F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, during a press conference with Netanyahu.

“We’re thinking about it very seriously,” Trump said when asked about an F-35 deal for Turkey as he met the Israeli premier at his Mar-a-Lago club.

The United States booted Turkey from development of the F-35, a top-of-the-line stealth plane, in 2019 after the NATO ally went ahead with purchases of missile defense from Russia.

Trump has warm relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite the veteran Islamist-linked leader’s fiery denunciations of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

Israel has expressed concern in the past over the potential sale of the advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and other nearby countries, as it is anxious to preserve its qualitative military edge over rivals in the region.

Asked about the potential for conflict between Israel and Turkey, Trump called Erdogan “a very good friend.”

“I promise they’ll never use them on [Israel],” Trump said while walking out of the room. “We’re not going have a problem.”

Today, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with F-35s in its fleet, currently operating 45 of the aircraft with another 30 units on order.

However, Trump recently announced the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, sparking worry in the Jewish state. US officials and defense experts have told Reuters that the jets to be sold to the Saudis will be less advanced than those used by the IDF.