JUDAH ARI GROSS
Two storks hit an F-35 fighter jet during a training flight on Tuesday, requiring the plane to undergo maintenance work, the army said.
The birds hit the F-35, called the “Adir” in Hebrew, just before it was due to return to the Nevatim air base in the central Negev desert.The army said the plane landed normally and that it did not sustain damage.
However, it was sent “for maintenance work as is common after impacts like this,” the IDF said in an email.
The army said the F-35 fighter jet, one of the seven currently in Israel’s possession, is expected to return to service in the next few days.
Israel has agreed to purchase 50 F-35 fighter jets from the United States in order to upgrade the air force’s capabilities.
The first two stealth fighters were delivered in December 2016, and the remaining planes are making their way over from the US in groups of two or three. Last month, for instance, two more F-35s were delivered.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/storks-hit-f-35-sending-stealth-jet-to-garage/
