Posted by
Gray Ghost on Tuesday, August 04, 2009 4:25:23 PM
According to my sources, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has finished the "war-game" portion of their tactical plan to hit the Iranian nuclear sites and is now moving into the selection and logistics part of their plan. Again, according to my sources, the main aircraft that has been selected to carry out the attack will be the Israeli Air Force's F-16I. I thought it might be nice to take a look at this "warbird" and one of the possible weapons systems that will be used in the attack (if such attack becomes necessary).
The F-16I nicknamed "Sufa" (Storm) is manufactured by Lockheed Martin and equipped with a Pratt & Whitney jet engine, as well as advanced systems developed in Israel according to the IAF's specifications by the country's defense industries. One of the most important systems the F-16I can carry are Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFT). These tanks are manufactured by the Israeli defense industry and increase the aircraft's amount of internal fuel by 50%. Their purpose is to significantly prolong the aircraft's flight range and ability to remain in the air, while NOT reducing the amount of weapons the plane can carry. The tanks are installed on the plane's back and conform to it's figure.
F-16I Shown with Conformal Fuel Tanks
The F-16I can also carry the Popeye Lite (Have Lite) air-to-surface stand-off missile. (This missile can carry a tactical nuclear warhead.) The range of this missile is classified; but my sources indicate they have a range of at least 150 nautical miles. One source indicated that this range can be increased by a factor of two; but he refused to describe how.
F-16I with Popeye Lite
The Israelis now have naval assests in the Persian Gulf and permission to "violate" Saudi air space. Unless something radical happens shortly, I would expect the attack to commence in no less than eight months.
For more information on the F-16I, I heartily recommend going to the following site: