Dutch court orders halt to export of F-35 jet parts to Israel

The Netherlands houses one of several regional warehouses of US-owned F-35 parts, from which the parts are distributed to countries that request them.

By REUTERS, JPOST FEBRUARY 12, 2024

A Dutch appeals court on Monday ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used in violations of international law during Israel’s Gaza offensive.

“It is undeniable that there is a clear risk the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said.

It said the state had to comply with the order within seven days and dismissed a request by government lawyers to suspend the order during an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The case against the Dutch government was brought by several human rights groups, including the Dutch affiliate of Oxfam, last December.

Israel denies committing war crimes in its attacks on Gaza, which followed the Hamas cross-border raid on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 240 were taken hostage.
Navy F-35 fighter plane (credit: WALLPAPER FLARE)Enlrage image

In a first ruling, a lower court had stopped short of ordering the Dutch government to halt the exports, even though it said it was likely that F-35s contributed to violations of the laws of war.

It said the state had a large degree of freedom when it comes to weighing political and policy issues in deciding on arms exports.

The original decision was dismissed by the appeals court

That was dismissed by the appeals court, which said political and economic concerns did not trump the clear risk of violations of the laws of war.

The appeals court also said it was likely that the F-35s were being used in attacks on Gaza, leading to unacceptable civilian casualties. It dismissed the Dutch state’s argument that it did not have to do a new check on the permit for the exports.

The Netherlands houses one of several regional warehouses of US-owned F-35 parts, from which the parts are distributed to countries that request them, including Israel in at least one shipment since the Oct. 7 attacks.

February 12, 2024 | 5 Comments »

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  1. Israel prepares F-35s for potential mission in Iran
    21st February 2024 – 07:02 GMT | by Arie Egozi in Tel AvivRSS

    The threat of Iranian nuclear weapons has led Israel to make changes to its F-35s while Russian actions in Syria have acted as a catalyst for action in developing anti-jamming systems.

    The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has been preparing its F-35s for possible attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, according to sources in Israel.

    Last week, Ali-Akbar Salehi, the former head of Iran’s nuclear agency, implied in remarks broadcast on Iranian state television that Iran had everything it required to construct a nuclear bomb.

    The changes made by the IAF to its F-35s were behind the decision to perform heavy maintenance in Israel rather than send the stealth aircraft to a European maintenance centre. The changes being made have the intention of making the stealth aircraft more capable should Israel decide to attack nuclear sites in Iran.

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    The IAF has tested some of the modifications made to its F-35I Adir stealth fighters to make them more capable in a potential attack on Iran. In March 2023, the IAF participated in a joint exercise with Greece, France, Cyprus, Italy and the US.

    Sources in Israel were only ready to say that the F-35 operated by the IAF would carry more fuel “in special tanks” in the non-stealth phase of the flight, noting that the added fuel was “a must” even with aerial refuelling capabilities.

    Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed special fuel tanks for different types of fighter aircraft and has operated old Boeing 707s converted to operate as refuelling aircraft. In recent years, Israel has ordered new Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tankers, the first of which will be delivered towards the end of 2025.

    Special test aircraft have recently been armed with an Israeli-made precision-guided munition weighing 1,000kg. The bomb, designed to fit the weapons bay of the F-35, has been described as a weapon with “super penetration”.

    No further details have been released on the bomb but one of Israel company Rafael’s family of smart bombs, the Spice 2000, has an add-on kit for 900kg warheads such as the MK-84, BLU-109 and RAP-2000. It can be assumed that the new bomb was based on the experience gathered by using this bomb.

    In recent tests, this unique bomb developed for the IAF’s F-35s achieved a circular error probability (CEP) of three metres.

    The F-35 test aircraft operated by the IAF’s main test unit has been equipped with systems that enable it to fly and launch weapon systems in EW-saturated areas.

    The test aircraft was also used to enhance the F-35’s capabilities to intercept armed-UAVs that Iran has been manufacturing in growing numbers, many of which have found themselves sent to Russia to be used in the country’s war in Ukraine.

    Israeli sources have said that the growing threat of Iranian armed-UAVs was reflected in the changes performed in the IAF’s F-35s which included allowing pilots to receive direct data from ground units that are part of the IDF’s “Depth Command”.

    Two years ago, Israel was affected by Russian GPS denial systems operated by Russian forces in Syria. During the event, Israeli civil aviation suffered the most severe interference, but recent years have seen the acceleration of the development of systems that would make Israeli-developed military systems immune to such disruptions. Some are already in operation while others have continued testing.

    Officially, nobody in Israel has been ready to address the problem. Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Giora Eiland said that if advanced Western weapon systems got to the hands of Iran it could cause a problem if these systems were used against Israel.

    “When a country like Iran puts its hands on an advanced US-made weapon systems such as the JDAM it creates the danger of finding the weak spots in such a system,” Eiland remarked. “In the JDAM example, the GPS navigation system can be affected by advanced GPS denial technologies such as those developed by Russia.”

    Israeli-made weapon systems that use GPS as a guidance sensor also use other methods that are immune to interferences. By analysing the Russian GPS denial systems operated in Syria, Israel took action to be better prepared for more aggressive GPS denial.

    The proliferation of Russian-made GPS jamming systems in the Middle East accelerated the process of equipping the IAF’s aircraft with anti-jamming systems. In 2021, the IAF revealed that an advanced anti-jamming system developed by IAI had been integrated into advanced platforms used by its different squadrons.

    The system, the ADA anti-jam GPS system, was designed to protect GPS/GNSS navigation from jamming. According to IAI, the system has been integrated into advanced platforms used by the IAF including F-16 fighter jets and various types of UAV. The ADA system has demonstrated operational maturity and has been in use by a number of international customers on various airborne, land and marine platforms.

    IAI said that ADA was combat proven in providing immunity against GPS jammers after it demonstrated its effectiveness in the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis in Gaza.

    Israeli sources have said that the changes in the IAF’s F-35 were also made to enable the aircraft to operate in a “stand-alone mode” when ground forces transmit target data directly to the pilot without going through the IAF operation centre.

    “This would enable the stealth aircraft to hit pop-up targets that require the shortest sensor to shooter time,” one of the sources said.

    The capability will be based on a very advanced, highly classified data transfer system developed in Israel.

    Arie Egozi
    AUTHOR
    Arie Egozi
    Born in Israel, Arie Egozi served in the IDF and holds a political science and journalism degree from Tel- Aviv University.

    Arie has worked as an aerospace and defence correspondent for Israel’s largest daily Yedioth Ahronot and foreign defence publications such as Flight International, Aviation Week and Breaking Defense.

    He is also editor-in-chief of the Israel Homeland Security website (I-HLS).

    https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/air-warfare/israel-prepares-f-35s-for-potential-mission-in-iran/

  2. The axis of evil of China, Russia, Iran and NK are very pleased at how the west has failed to ban together against common enemies while they are united against us. Whether Europe realizes it or not, hamas is not just Israel’s problem. It’s part of the global jihad. If hamas prevails so does the islamic war against the west. The west should be fully and stalwartly behind Israel in supporting the Israeli fight to exterminate hamas. We should be arming Israel to the teeth.

  4. So stupidity and ignorance has spread to Dutch courts. I wonder what they think of Dutch behaviour when they colonized South Africa…

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