Major Element of Israel’s Airforce and Nuclear Deterrent Disabled Due to Floods

Jan 19, 2020

Link: https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2020/01/14/breaking-f-16s-damaged-in-israeli-flood-constitute-doomsday-force-for-retaliatory-nuclear-attack/
Archive.is: http://archive.is/4bMnn

The portions of the article below in bold are sections to pay attention to:

One of 8 Israeli F-16s heavily damaged by massive floods at airbase
For the past week or more, the Middle East has been subject to massive flooding. Israel has been especially hard hit. A young couple drowned in an elevator in their Tel Aviv apartment building. But the flooding has had even wider military consequences for Israel’s Air Force. One of its main bases is Hatzor (pictured on map), in the south between Ashdod and Ashkelon. It houses Squadron 101, whose F-16s would be tasked with executing massive retaliation should an enemy wipe out Israel’s Jericho ICBM’s situated at its Sdot Micha (also known as Sdot Ha’Elah) base.
There are underground hangars housing a portion of the F-16 force at Hatzor. An immense and sudden flood poured into the hangars (according to the air force spokesperson 13-million cubic feet of water poured into the site within 30 minutes) and innundated at least eight planes worth $160-million (and far more if you include the sophisticated avionics installed by Israeli engineers). Pictures of the hangars show F-16s sitting in deep pools of water reaching at least to the middle of the plane’s fuselage. Though it’s hard to tell just how much damage the flooding caused, clearly a $20-million plane with its advanced electronic equipment and weapons systems isn’t meant to sit in water for hours on end. I’m guessing that the damage would involve destruction of electrical systems and weapons control systems. Given how expensive the planes are to begin with, repairs to them could run into the millions. Statements from the air force that the damage would be repaired within a week beggars belief.

In summary, floods have severely damaged Israeli F-16 jets that belong to an elite squadron known as "Squadron 101", and this has also compromised key locations of their ICBMs. Repair will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, so that's a blow towards their nuclear capabilities.

Link: https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2020/01/14/breaking-f-16s-damaged-in-israeli-flood-constitute-doomsday-force-for-retaliatory-nuclear-attack/
Archive.is: http://archive.is/4bMnn

The portions of the article below in bold are sections to pay attention to:

One of 8 Israeli F-16s heavily damaged by massive floods at airbase
For the past week or more, the Middle East has been subject to massive flooding. Israel has been especially hard hit. A young couple drowned in an elevator in their Tel Aviv apartment building. But the flooding has had even wider military consequences for Israel’s Air Force. One of its main bases is Hatzor (pictured on map), in the south between Ashdod and Ashkelon. It houses Squadron 101, whose F-16s would be tasked with executing massive retaliation should an enemy wipe out Israel’s Jericho ICBM’s situated at its Sdot Micha (also known as Sdot Ha’Elah) base.
There are underground hangars housing a portion of the F-16 force at Hatzor. An immense and sudden flood poured into the hangars (according to the air force spokesperson 13-million cubic feet of water poured into the site within 30 minutes) and innundated at least eight planes worth $160-million (and far more if you include the sophisticated avionics installed by Israeli engineers). Pictures of the hangars show F-16s sitting in deep pools of water reaching at least to the middle of the plane’s fuselage. Though it’s hard to tell just how much damage the flooding caused, clearly a $20-million plane with its advanced electronic equipment and weapons systems isn’t meant to sit in water for hours on end. I’m guessing that the damage would involve destruction of electrical systems and weapons control systems. Given how expensive the planes are to begin with, repairs to them could run into the millions. Statements from the air force that the damage would be repaired within a week beggars belief.