How Israel built the best jetfighter in the world... then abandoned it 

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It’s like an F-16 and a Mirage 2000 had a baby together.

This is the only time I applaud the sponsorship ads. The bias and double standards of media regarding the Israeli Palestinian conflict is absolutely revolting. Thank you for actually speaking about that issue.

The same reason why Canada’s Avro Arrow was abandoned. The Americans were terrified that someone else had something better!!

Belgium built (one of) the best fighter in the world in 1937, the Renard 36-40 series, abandoned it too, and was attacked by germany while still using biplanes

What's more is that later on IAI would go on to work with Boeing and Lockheed to make specialized variants of the F-15E and F-16D, that being the F-15I and F-16I respectively, which the Israelis have gotten a lot of use out of

It's a bit odd, but worthy of note, the the 'Kfir' is shown in the background, often in USAF/USN "F-21" livery. It was used in Top-Gun and Red Flag as a "mimic' of "Other Nations" aircraft, and could give most US fighters absolute fits (well, until the F-22 Raptor showed up). The Kfir was a Mirage-5 Delta-wing (not an F-1 nor type-IV) that had extra Flaps, and importantly, fore-mounted Mini-Canards that had quite a range in 'Pitch' change (rumored to also be used in 'roll' by having one "fin" at a different "pitch" for a moment or two), giving it an Edge over even the F-18 in 'tight-turn' gun-fights in the "Upper-Left-Corner", which must've ticked-off the Navy Brass!

Crazy how such a small country is so technologically advanced

It's like the F-16 mated with a Typhoon. It's a beautiful baby too.

As a Canadian this one really hits close to home

Pretty cool looking aircraft actually. There was an even more ambitious proposal to build an Israeli stealth fighter called the Arie i think. Never went further than the drawing board with concept drawings, though some technology was developed for it (IR reduction measures, radar signature reduction measures etc) that was also to be used on the Lavi I think.

There was a IAF game by Janes I played when I was younger where you could fly this beauty.

Great video! Do the hawker p1154 next. Would love to know more about that plane.

Actually the J-9 is a large set of concepts that keep researching from 1960s. They vary from something like a canard delta J-8 (which is one of the earlist), to the AJ-37-like concept, to something like canard Mig-25 (and in some ways eventually became J-20 today), most of them were cancelled because way too advanced to Chinese aviation industry which just capable of independely production and improving Mig-21. It was officially cancelled as a model development, but the research keep continuing. (Fun fact, because of the deterioration with Soviet, the engineers in China didn't even get exactly teaching and course of supersonic aerodynamic calculation and design, which they supposed to be teached by Russians. They were literally explored everything from scratch, with the Mig-21 design files on their hand as reference, and recreated the entire knowledge system by their own.) And finally, in some times about late 1980s, with the inspiration from the Mirage *(yeah, the born on J-10 was not only thanks to IAI, but also Dassault)* , the J-9 concept evolved into something that also looked quite like F-16 (which not surprised because to against F-16 is its goal) and therefore like Lavi. The next gen fighter project of PLAAF was launched in 1981, almost the same time with Lavi which is in late 1980. The competitor of the J-10 concept was J-13 from Shenyang, which is basically a F-16 build with Mig-21 tech, due to the same and obvious reason. And ppl in Chengdu somehow managed to convinced PLAAF that their design is better than Shenyang's and was more capable for future air combat, so they win. Remember, that bidding happened *in 1984. Early than the maiden flight of Lavi (in 1986)!* You can't copied an aircraft that didn't even fly yet, right? So I think that's more like a coincidence. After they win, during the development of the J-10, the guys in Chengdu get access to the Lavi, found it actually coincidentally looked like the progressing J-9 concept, thinking *"hey why not just take some modern features and systems, and merged them into ours, it will save lots of time and effort than just try everything from the ground!"* (Carefully looked at details of Lavi and J-10, you'll found the most common aspects of them are in the arrangement of avionic systems, espercially in cockpit. Considering it's the most lacking experience area in which China need for developing a 4th gen fighter, it make sense to just copy something from a design that is more mature than yours.) and bang, *here comes the J-10*... * *EDIT:* Actually the CAC, more specifically the chief designer Song Wencong himself, was perpared if China can't get assistance from Dassault and IAI. The J-10 is a natually unstable plane, just like the F-16, Mirage and Lavi, but this can only happened via the access of fly-by-wire flight control system from Dassault and IAI. (China was actually already developing it, but without assisstance it will be able way more later, probably later than J-10's commission.) If it didn't happened, Song actually designed a delta wing version of J-10 with smaller canards like the Kfir and Mirage V as the temporary backup plan, which is static stable, and therefore didn't need an advanced FBW system to fly, to make sure the J-10 can commissioned in time.

Top-notch renders as always.

Hey Found and Explained, I love the videos! But I was just watching some of your older videos, and wondered, whatever happened to the OG intro thing? Keep up the great work, and hit that next milestone!

There’s no doubt that the J10 took some inspiration from the Lavi.

As an Israeli I could not forgive the government for not standing up to the pressure and finalising the Lavi. The Americans are great friends but they left their borders open and now divided into two groups, one which prevents the US from giving the full support we need right now, and we feel that we’re too dependent on them.

as my grandpa used to say: why building a stealth plane if you can't find it afterwards...

Your statement about the talent released from this project benefitting other industries reminds me of the death of the UK's aviation/rocketry industry. (Failure of the Dh Comet, TSR2' and Black Arrow cancellation, and such) All the unused talent ended up in the motorsport industry. At one time in late 90s, almost all F1/IndyCar teams save Ferrari, and engine builders were based in the British midlands.

Uncle Sham has a bad habit of easily getting jealous of everyone , even his friends.😂

Not surprised the US did Israel dirty with the Lavi, they did the same to us in Canada when the Avro Arrow looked to threaten US aircraft sales.

3:40 the name of the aircraft actually translates to a “cub”

It was abandoned, forced by the USA so's to prevent sales competition with US fight jets.

The CGI is awesome, rejuvenating the Lavi into modern HD quality.

F-16 also has a delta wing version for experiment purpose name F-16XL.

I think the Swedish single engine JAS 39 Gripen may have had some inspirations from the Lavi.

Great video!

Curious as to how you do your aircraft videos? Excellent quality, thanks.

J10 is bigger than Lavi. Lavi Length: 14.57m Wingspan: 8.78m Height: 4.78m J10 Length: 16. 9m Wingspan: 9.8m Height: 5.7m

My friends dad worked on it as well. When the project was cancelled many of the engineers were sent to work on Israel's drone projects instead, which lead to Israel becoming a world leader in military drone tech.

Im seeing a theme amongst the best prototypes; Delta winds. Avro Arrow is my favorite example.

Looks like an F-16 with canards, which is awesome.

Amazing animations keep up your good work 👍👍👍

Looks a little like the F16 but then with the canard, it also looks like the J10. Awesome jet developed and built by really smart people. I read somewhere and sometime ago, the Americans want them to buy the US made jet and was told to stop their own program. Wonder if this could be the reason

Another interesting one! Would love to see one on the Lockheed Cheyenne.

It reminds me of the X31 a bit but without vector thrust

The Kfir isn't pronounced ke-ffer, it's pronounced like if the word fear had a k slapped in front of it.

This is fantastic

It is important to say that this was a project before the breakup of the Soviet bloc. And before a million Soviets came to live in Israel.

Nice work again. Can you make a Video about the MBB Lampyridae, too? Greetings from Germany.

When an F-16XL and Gripen collaborate.

No doubt that the J-10 will have benefitted from the Lavi project. But the Chinese had added their own blend to the design so much so that it is undoubtedbly a Chinese fighter.

WOW!!! I freaking love this

A video about the J-9 or other cancelled Chinese aircraft like the J-12 or J-13 would be really interesting.

Could you do an episode on the F-20 Tigershark?

another beautiful story, that America turned into a sad one...

A similar aircraft program was done in India named HAL MARUT. Hope there would be a episode on it in the future 😄

The Mig Ye 8 always reminds me of the Lavi, have your heard of it? I think it's a very interesting topic!

so the US have given something like $130billion in military aid to Israel over the years. That aid would most likely not be in dollars but military equipment, part of that aid could have be F-16s. Also I think there is a link in that Iran cancelled an order in 1979 (just before revolution) of 55 F-16 and maybe they where already build and available for cheap.

Looks like the Delta wing F-16 that Lockheed Martin proposed for the air force. Might want to look into the possibility of "stolen" tech.

It looks like a mix of the Gripen and an F-16.

Wow - amazing development!

There is a really interesting article about J-10 on sohu (media oulet from China) that I've just read, the article states that Israel had the idea of putting Russian AL-31F engine on Lavi, to accommodate this engine the fuselage was redesigned to be bigger, the wings were changed from a swept trapezoidal wing to bigger pointed delta shape and canards were pushed forward a bit, this redesigning results a jet that had silhouette almost resembling J-10. I take this article with a grain of salt though.

It ended up inspired the J-10, the third superstar of the PLAAF.

well it does have similar design like Rafale and Typhoon

Can you please make a video on Jf-17 thunder? I'm sure it'd be a nice one..

The Lavi was not the "best" jetfighter in the world, it served Israel's needs at the time, and was replaced by the very capable F-16. It was not cost effective for Israel to build. It also had an American powerplant, the Pratt and Whitney 1120, and would have been reliant on US approval for export --- something that would not be granted readily.

Could you maybe do a video about the "Novi Avion" Yugoslav project?

Btw Nick, If you plan to do a video on the J-10, i can proudly say that my grandfather certified it into service

Very much like the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow

Tell me one thing Israel can't do!! Seven million people full of wonders. There's something supernatural about that nation

Basically, take parts of the jets from different countries with advantages and combine it together.... Nice!🍻

You nail it!!! 😂😂😂 F16+Mirage=Lavi😅😅😅

they say about the lavi that it was a big mistake to start the project but a bigger mistake that they closed it

I didn't even know Israel had an aviation industry lol! That jet looks pretty slick tho! Thanks for the video!

If Sweden can build an incredible jet so can any nation of similar size, provided they have the will. Sure some nations would need to build up their industrial sector a bit, but that still falls under willpower. addendum: Sweden has around a million more people than Israel. ~10.4 million for Sweden, ~9.4 for Israel. edit/caveat: This is specifically in regard to what was said at the very beginning of the video.

Would love to know more about other planes.

@foundandexplained pls do a video on tejas mk1A and tejas mk2

Maybe not the greatest timing on this video...

Excellent plane, I would like to ask a question, some time ago I saw a program where it was mentioned about an Israeli plane that was a copy of the French delta wing Mirage, in a part of that program it was mentioned as the delta wing configuration although It gave advantages in some missions, it also gave problems in others and because of those problems, Israel stopped making its planes and acquired the F 16. Could someone tell me if that is true and if so, what problems do delta wing planes have?

What was the plane shown at 5.13 on top of an ekranoplan ?

When a Gripen and Eurofighter got together.

Looks like an F16 combined with a Eurofighter Typhoon

IAI built the Lavi. It was quashed because it would have went toe to toe with the F-16 in international sales. That, and the fact it contained a lot of American parts. Why would Uncle Sam foot the bill for a fighter jet which would directly compete against its best export fighter aircraft.

It looks like if your mixed an F-16 and a Gripen

At least we can see some remnants of the design in the J-10, but it’s still kinda sad to see this thing go

Delta wings allow low approach speeds, so they designed this to land on roads.

The Chinese Chengdu Aircraft Company developed the J-10 fighter jet based on the Lavi fighter jet. Before this, the highest level of Chinese fighter jets was the J-8II, which was roughly at the level of the 1960s. China had no technological reserves for modern fighter jets, such as fly-by-wire control, digital instrumentation, data buses, and so on. In addition to the LAVI fighter jet, the accompanying Python 3 air-to-air missiles were also transferred to China. In the Chinese version, these missiles are known as PL-8 and can be seen on many Chinese fighter jets. Now, China's support for Hamas is indeed a development that might have been unexpected in the context of Israel-China relations.

Can’t help thinking Eurofighter. 😂

Wrong regarding how advanced is to put quadruple redandency. The F-18 that was designed during the same time also had this.

As a Canadian. The birthplace of the legendary Avro Arrow. I never heard of politics killing the best, way ahead of its time, fighter jet. There still is not a plane that can do what that thing did. Don't waste money developing better planes than the USA. We all might as well just buy new F-15's.

It reminds me of the Saab Gripen. 😎👍

It's a pretty, graceful looking craft. IMO, most aerospace success stories are likewise easy on the eyes.

You waffle back and forth as to how you pronounce IAI Kfir. It’s pronounced properly as “Ki-fear” Requesting videos on the following: -switchblade aircraft designs such as the FA-37 Talon from the ‘05 movie “Stealth” or the X-02 Wyvern from the Ace Combat franchise (the concept, not the actual fighters I mentioned) -Super Tomcat-21 and ASF-14 -the NATF program as a whole -early ATF proposals/McDonnell Douglas’ ATF proposal -Sea Apache -F-20 Tigershark -Bae SABA -Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Bomber proposal -Northrop’s proposal for what would become the F-117 Nighthawk -Interstate TDR -JSF proposals OTHER THAN the X-32 and X-35 -XFV-12 -Gloster Meteor -the proposals that didn’t win the F-X program that spawned the F-15 Eagle -Erado E.555 -model 853 quiet bird -the USSR’s Project P-2 submarine

Looks a lot like a F-16, doesn't it? And one of the Chinese fighters looks practically identical.

Isnt that a cropped delta wing as opposed to a full delta wing?

Now called the J10 Chinese jet

The Chinese could have just as easily taken the J-10s design cues from the Eurofighter Typhoon as the Lavi. Or the Gripen. Or MiG 3.1. There are plenty of aircraft out there that could have stolen from… I mean inspired by.

So when Israel basically steals multiple designs from the west we praise them But when china does it we make fun of them and say they're copycats 💀

That looks like the Jas 39 gripen.

The stuff at 6:43 to 6:55 is very interesting. Can you or anyone else say where it came from or what it is, exactly?

The Lavi is why the F-22 was never exported to Israel. America's "greatest ally" would have sold the F-22's tech to the Chinese just how they sold the entire Lavi program's technical and engineering data lock stock and barrel for the Chinese to make the J-10. That's not my opinion or speculation, but rather the opinion of more than a few congressmen, defense industry, and intelligence community personnel.

free Palestine

canada did the same thing with the Avro ARROW

Can you please make a video on HAL HF 24 Marut and another on a cancelled HAL HF 73 of India

free palestine

Was this the jet that was in the movie Jewel Of The Nile?

1:24 its more like K-FIR then kafur

Reminds me of the Canadian Avro Arrow..