On Sunday, the Israeli Defence Ministry announced that the application was submitted to the Joint Program Office for the F-35 Lightning II. Israeli Air Force (IAF) wants to start receiving aircraft in three batches by 2027. With this new squadron, Israel will operate 75 F-35Is in total. The aircraft's cost is estimated at USD 3 billion and will be funded by a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) grant. Former U.S. President Obama promised Israel would receive $38 billion in aid until 2028.