The report mentions also significant progress in the integration of Israel-made missiles on the F-35I.īefore moving on, here is a brief explanation of the “third circle” from the Times of Israel: “The “third circle” refers to the three levels of direct threats facing Israel, the first being small terror groups on Israel’s borders, like Hamas the second being larger threats, like the Syrian army and Hezbollah and the third being countries that do not share a border with Israel, like Iran and Iraq.” Until, a few days ago, the Israeli news website Walla reported that development is still ongoing.Īccording to Walla, the Israeli Air Force Flight Testing Center (FTC) at Tel-Nof AFB is developing the external drop tanks that will help the Adir to complete long-range missions over “third circle” targets, such a hypothetical strike against Iranian objectives, without the need for aerial refueling, while also allowing an extended time on station (TOS) over the targets. The first studies for new fuel tanks started at least during the system design and development phase (SDD) of the 5th gen aircraft, but after 2019 nothing new surfaced, at least online. It is no secret that the Israeli Air Force considers the combat range as one of the most important factors when adopting a new fighter aircraft and that, because of this, it was the first operator to ask for external fuel tanks for the F-35 Lightning II or, more specifically, for the customized F-35I Adir. A local newspaper reported that the development of external fuel tanks for the F-35 is still ongoing and will possibly be complete in two years.

Us air force drops tank