Up close with the Israel Defense Forces' F-16I and Iron Dome (pictures)
On CNET's Road Trip visit to Israel last month, Ben Fox Rubin checks out a handful of Israel's advanced military technologies.
At Hatzerim Airbase
To get a look at the F-16I fighter jet, I visited the sprawling Hatzerim Airbase, located in the Negev Desert, outside of the Israeli city of Be'er Sheva.
At the base, there was a concrete lot housing about half a dozen F-16Is, including this one.
An advanced fighter jet
The F-16I, one of Israel's most-advanced fighter jets, is an Israeli-modified version of the Lockheed Martin aircraft that has been a mainstay of the US military.
Built with high-tech systems
The F-16I is less nimble than its simpler, lighter sibling, the F-16A, but it makes up for that with a more powerful radar system and other technologies.
An F-16I fuel tank, tucked under the wing, is pictured here.
The cockpit
The jet, nicknamed "Sufa," Hebrew for "storm," entered service in 2004. It's equipped with JDAM GPS-guided bombs, as well as Python 5 heat-seeking rockets and radar-guided missiles.
Safety first
The F-16I's wingspan is about 33 feet (10 meters), and the jet is about 49 feet (15 meters) long.
Introducing Captain R.
Captain R., a 25-year-old pilot with the Israeli Air Force, showed me around the airbase and discussed the F-16I, which he's been flying as part of combat duty for the past year.
A high-tech helmet
Captain R., whose name and face weren’t published to protect his identity, uses a specialized helmet that includes a projector to display flight information on his visor and a camera to document his missions.
A homegrown technology
The helmet-mounted display was created by Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense contractor.
The F-16I's inlet
A “Litening” targeting and navigation camera pod, created by Israel-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, can sit directly below the inlet, shown here.
A speed demon
The jet's high-altitude speed is over Mach 2.
A workhorse jet
Captain R. flew a F-16I for daily missions during the 2014 conflict in Gaza.
Fuel up
In the concrete lot, several small shelters held jet fuel tanks.
The Arrow system
I also visited the Menashe regional military base to talk to Col. Yoni Saada Marom, who showed me the Arrow intercontinental missile-defense system.
We're standing right next to an Arrow battery, but unfortunately due to a military exercise that day, I was barred from taking pictures of the system.
Visiting the Iron Dome
About an hour's drive south near the city of Ashkelon, I saw the Iron Dome, a mobile, rapid-response missile defense system Israel brought to the battlefield in 2011.
An Iron Dome standing ready
Here's an active Iron Dome battery, used to protect Ashkelon from rocket fire from Gaza nearby.
The Iron Dome base
A small base with a handful of soldiers operated the Iron Dome, maintained in an open field at the end of a dirt road.