How Israel built the best jetfighter in the world... then abandoned it

the sling of [Music] David the hair of Samson the lion of Israel the lvy was to be the tip of the Spear of the Israeli Air Force made as a multi-purpose fighter with excellent maneuverability it was destined to deal with any threat of the error and to ensure the supremacy of the Israeli Air Force in the Levant however politics money and betrayal kept this lion in a cage and today we're going to find out just why welcome to the story of the prospective Israeli jet fighter the Young Lion I AI [Music] lavy there is no

topic more controversial nor a region on Earth more seeped in history than in this area of the Middle East and the story of how a small nation had the ambition to build a fighter is no exception Israel in the late 1970s found itself beset by rivals on all sides as well as severe internal division for the Israeli Air Force it was time to upgrade their aging Fleet of multi-roll fighter bombers such as the Douglas A4 Skyhawk and the I AI kafur the Israeli Air Force was estimated to have a requirement for 300 aircraft 60 of

which which were expected to be combat capable twoa trainers they wanted to have two tiers of aircraft a small number of high performance aircraft and a larger bulk of less sophisticated planes that could be used for various bulk missions the government was Keen to look at American aircraft such as the F-16 but some voices commended that perhaps instead of spending money overseas they spend it right here and it was a popular choice among politicians too as it was seen in as an important program to modernize Israel industry overall and increase its technical ability helping the

nation progress towards becoming a developed Nation but for such a country to tackle and advanc projects such as a multi- royal fighter bomber it was certainly ambitious and it gets worse when you consider that this aircraft would not only have to face down the most advanced Soviet Jets being sold to Rivals but American too because at the time Egypt and Saudi Arabia both had made steps to acquire modern American fighter jets and the idea that they might be earned on Israel wasn't outside the realm of possibility in February of 1980 the project was given the

go-ahead and the Air Force presented its requirements to the Israeli aircraft Industries or I AI this future jet would need to be able to perform primary air to ground strikes but also face multiple air targets at once as such it would also need to be quick and survivable with plenty of redundancy and be much more maneuverable than rival aircraft lastly it would need to be cheaper than buying aerican americanmade aircraft and have a life cycle cost that made sense for the small procurement to save on resources and to take advantage of existing Partnerships the government

planned to produce a variant of a pratton Whitney engine for the new fighter it would be built domestically at their local engine plant but many of the components would have to be designed and developed in the United States as their production methods were a state secret so already the supply chain had a weakness of involving too much American help but I'm getting ahead of myself with the green light and a deadline of 6 years the team got to work and this is what they came up with the story of the lvy is truly fascinating but

I've also found it fascinating to follow the Journey of other jet fighters around the world and see where they actually end up being used something that the US military obviously needed help with when they were asking the public For assistance with finding the lost stealth fighter jet this story was such a kafuffle around the world that it was actually broadcast by many different media Outlets that range from the left to the right with the majority being in the center this of course is a far cry from the current situation in Israel which has a much

more biased around its media when researching for found and explain we always like to have a look at the biased distribution chart which shows us which news outlets are covering which story and where they lean politically it's an important factor to note that when looking through a story like the missing jet fighter or something to do with Israel to see how credible your source is and that's why ground news is such an essential tool for us it scores the reporting practices of news Publications based on an average rating of three rating systems ownership factuality and

bias which ends up giving you a final score that tells you just how much you can trust this media avoid misleading media narratives and stay informed on breaking news by using my link ground. newsound which you can see down in my description and you'll get 30% off your Vantage plan support my channel by supporting ground news and a warm hug to those that take the time to check out the amazing work that they're doing by 1986 two of the five prototypes had been completely successful sucessfully by the Israeli aircraft industry it had a delta wing

which the company was already familiar with through their earlier work on the Cil which paired with large steerable canards situated forward of the wing the delta wing Arrangement was relatively low weight and provided space for considerable fuel capacity a smooth low altitude flight experience and high levels of directional stability was flown at high angles of attack with a single seat a single engine the lvy weight was around 1,300 kg lighter than its counterpart and Benchmark the F-16 this allowed it to be significantly more maneuverable and reach a top speed of Mac 1.85 all while carrying

750 lb bombs the lavy possessed a combat radius of 250 nautical miles or an alternative arnt of 2,b bonds enabled a 650 nautical mile combat radius for those bigger missions possessing a 1.1 to1 thrust to weight ratio while equipped with this combat payload the airframe of the Lavi was designed to be capable of routinely withstanding up to 9gs impressive but much of the Innovation was also on the software front because it was an aerodynamically unstable airframe the plane employed a quadruplex redundant digital flyby wild system in order to provide stability and control something that at

the time was was considered Overkill but today seen almost everywhere with Delta wi aircraft in fact it's these fully digital controls that made the lavy more computerized than any other system in the world included in its avionics were Advanced countermeasures and a powerful Doppler multi mode radar built locally that included high resolution mappings terrain avoidance and a look down bombing functionality this was all very Hightech for the80s on New Year's Eve of 1986 the inaugural prototype embarked made in flight but anyway he was the head of the I ai's air operational sections managed to fly

the aircraft in the skies for 26 minutes during this time he matious evaluated the engine and controls affirming their performance the handling the aircraft was lorded as excellent demonstrating remarkable stability even in challenging crosswind Landings approximately 3 years later the second lavy prototype gracefully took flight distinguished by enhancements and additional features compared to his predecessor this iteration boasted a belly mounted fuel tank A specialized midair refueling probe and several new avionic systems both the b-01 and b-02 the names of the prototypes were configured as tandem two seaters with a rear cockpit dedicated to housing testing

equipment but would be replaced in future with test pilots a noteworthy total of 82 sorties had been completed between the two finalized prototypes these flights systematically explore to significant portion of the aircraft's flight envelope contributing valuable data to understanding its capabilities the Jets were passing all the tests with flying colors and it was time to talk production talks that uh didn't go the way anyone expected something that you need to understand about Israel in the 1980s was despite only having around 4 million people 24% of its budget reportedly went to the military and fighter jets

aren't cheap the lavy's development entailed the abandonment of other competing military requirements and sought after Investments consequently different factions formed within the armed forces that did not endorse the project they each wanted funding for themselves some of the officers contended that the F-16 with comparable performance to the levy was already readily available and moreover the more cost effective to procure in fact a Israeli General in the Air Force argued in favor of canceling the lavy project and instead acquiring 75 f-16s and let's just talk about the American influence here despite garning un waving support from

the Israeli Air Force the lavy did face significant International opposition despite the critical role played by the us as a partner in the aircraft's development remember those ancients political resistance to the funding of the lavy was evident this was fueled by concerns of the lvy could become a strong competitor to the export Market against the American aircraft like the f-16c and the F18 Hornet and you know Uncle Sam ever patient with his friend Israel wasn't happy the supporters were emphasizing the economic benefits of having a homegrown Jet and were optimistic about the lavy sales potential

the I AI projected ambitious export sales envisioned up to 407 units sold to various countries including South Africa Chile Taiwan and Argentina early in the lavy's development there were indications of a significant South African interest and involvement however in later stages Israel committed to the US that the lvy would not be offered for export underlining its strategic considerations and international commitments so already the lavy was starting to not make sense with International sales out in a last ditch effort supporters asserted that lavy was a prestigious program showcasing Israel's technological press and contributing to the nation's

economical Advantage they argue that abandoning the development could result into substantial job losses and potentially lead to immigration with top engineers and scientists leaving to go build American aircraft while the Israeli State Controller downplayed the impact on unemployment they were more worried about that bottom line on August 30th 1987 Israel's cabinet engaged in a pivotal role to determine the fate of the lavy's development this decisionmaking process was significantly influenced by substantial lobbying efforts from the United States accompanied by several compensatory proposals aimed at securing the cancellation of the project the vote unfolded a men tense

political polarization with the Israeli labor party instructing its members to vote against the continuation of the lvy the cabinet ultimately rejected the Project's continuation by a very narrow margin of 12 to 11 with one Cabinet member opting to abstain subsequently the Israeli government green L the acquisition of 90 F-16 C's from the United States serving as an effective replacement for the lavy the two prototypes were put to work doing additional system tests and IAI would actually complete a third test bed for the radar and other components but eventually all three prototypes were retired but interestingly

reports circulated that China and South Africa expressed interest in pursuing the on development of the lavy hinting at potential International collaboration despite its cancellation in Israel and let's talk about that socalled air quotes collaboration in 1988 Israel's defense minister refuted a Sunday Times of London report suggesting an agreement between Israel and China to develop a fighter derived from the lvy a project that was initially rooted in the F-16 apparently detailed development design documentation of the lvit was handed over to China to help them develop their next Generation aircraft the J10 and funny this story might

have just ended there as a rumor if not for a third party agreeing to it Russia that's right in 2006 Russian Engineers speculated that the J10 bought resemblance to the lbby describing it as more or less a version with a blend of foreign technology and design methods ired from various sources and then another publication in 2008 ascertained that the J10 benefited from technical information from the original Israeli project citing senior Russian Engineers who claim to have heard this from their Chinese counterparts all very fishy but what do the Chinese say the Chinese of course absolutely

deny this they contend that the J10 features attributed to the levy are the result of their own prior aircraft design they point to the King Do's earlier work on the cancel j9 from the 1960s and70s as the source of the J10 lavy like double Canard configuration which was all a decade before Israelis even built their jet but I'll leave that up to you in the comments to decide whether or not that's the case despite the cancellation the lavy project left a lasting impact technical knowledge for its development contributed to Israel's space achievements and the growth

of its high-tech industry the radar that was developed for the lavy became a commercial success and many have also said that this project led to Israel's Hightech boom of the 1990s because 5,000 Israeli scientists and Engineers who had been employed on the project were now released to join the local economy the I AI lavy although shortlived remains a fascinating chapter in aviation history its cancellation stir debates but its technological Legacy endured contributing to Israel's Aerospace achievements this topic is no doubt controversial and its timing is something that is unfortunate but all I ask is you

keep in mind the love for aircraft is universal and despite this all being developed as a weapon for war we know the engineers built it with their hearts and soul to just try and create an impressive machine don't forget to like subscribe and hit that notification Bell for more content until then fly high and stay curious thanks for watching