Most in American analyst circles who believe Israel will not attack Iranian nuke sites do so in whole or part because of fuel restrictions hampering Israel strike aircraft that would require staging in Iraqi airspace and the belief that the US would not allow it - certainly a valid point, but, as I've said, a possibly flawed and simplistic interpretation of the way events could unfold and one that assumes Israel has not secretly modified aircraft to overcome the limitations [although I say without having any idea of whether or not such a thing is even possible*]. Regardless of all that, it's interesting that the one plane that could carry out this mission, in fact is perfectly suited for this mission [well, I guess the B2 would be a nice fit as well] has just been discontinued because of lack of relevant utility - the F22**: its got the range and super stealth capabilities to make it an ideal candidate. Not that I know what that means, if it means anything at all - just thought it curious.
* Israel has ordered several special versions of F-16s and F-15s - upgrades having to do with extending range included. Also, IAI, a state owned high tech Israeli air defense manufacturer and the largest industrial employer in Israel, has engineered many upgrades of its own - but from what I can tell these upgrades need to be approved by the US before they can be installed [in fact US and Israel at impasse right now concerning the F-35 over proprietary upgrades Israel wants to add to it]. IAI was developing an Israeli fighter, but project was canceled several years ago. In short, I'm sure Israel could modify planes - but I get the feeling they'd have to break contracts and or laws to do so.
** It should be pointed out that Gates, when he discusses the F-22, keeps carping on the fact that the plane hasn't seen action in either Iraq or Afghanistan as if enough said re its value - damning, sure, but never does it get mentioned why it hasn't seen action ie they cost a lot and there's a limited supply resulting in extreme caution viz deployment - hardly a rousing defense of the system, but Gates is inferring the plane is useless not that it's too expensive to use, a small but important difference I think.
