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Israel Planning
Military Telecommunication Satellite
The Israel Air
Force is planning to launch a dedicated military telecommunication
satellite in 2006. In an unsigned article in the April issue of the
Hebrew-language Air Force Journal, entitled “Air Force and
Space”, the journal characterized the military satellite program
as the first order of business for the service’s recently created
Space Branch.
The
satellite would weigh two metric tons (4400 lbm) and be produced
jointly by Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., Lod, Israel, and an
unnamed U.S. company. The Israel Air Force plans to equip Israel’s
new fleet of F-16I fighters with satellite communications. The
satellite will serve as the central mode of communication for the
F-16I, currently in production at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.,
Fort Worth, Texas. Later, the IAF also plans to modify its F-15I
fleet to accommodate the space-based communications.
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