The Israeli Air Force's (IAF) first F-35A Lightning II all-weather, stealth multirole fighter has been launched at Lockheed Martin's production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, US.

Called Adir, the F-35A aircraft will be delivered to the IAF as part of a contract awarded to Lockheed last year.

The IAF placed an order for 33 F-35A Adir conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) aircraft to replace its ageing F-15 and F-16 aircraft and boost its deterrence in the Middle East.

Israel Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman said: "Israel is proud to be the first country in the area to receive and operate it.

"The F-35 is the best aircraft in the world and the choice of all our military leadership at its highest level. It is clear and obvious to us and to the entire    2
      At the sentencing hearing, the government presented several witnesses who

testified about an incident that occurred in the visitation center at the Pinellas

County Jail, where Montas was housed. Catherine Stroud testified that on March

7, 2009, she, her mother and her 14-year-old sister, Michelle Schuette, were

visiting her brother at the jail when an inmate (whom she identified as Montas)

called her sister over to the phone in his booth. Stroud told her sister to ignore

him. Then, Montas “went off to the side and started to masturbate in front of the

camera.” Susan Kresin, a detention deputy at the visitation center, testified that the

mother of a young girl approached her and said that she wanted to press charges

against an inmate (later identified as