The Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) announced on 20 August 2025 that it plans to add two more Boeing KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling aircraft to its previous order for four of the type.
IMOD Director General Major General (Res) Amir Baram instructed the IMOD Mission to the US to sign the contract with the US government to procure the fifth and sixth KC-46s once approval from the Israel Defense Procurement Ministerial Committee is obtained.
The US State Department approved the sale of up to eight KC-46s to Israel in 2020, with the US Department of Defense awarding Boeing a USD 930 million (EUR 801.4 million) contract in August 2022 to deliver the first four aircraft before the end of 2026. The contract for the additional two aircraft is estimated to be worth approximately USD 500 million and is funded through US aid.
The KC-46s procured from the United States will be additionally equipped with Israeli systems and adapted to the Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) operational requirements.
Gen Baram was quoted by the IMOD as stating, “The fifth and sixth refuelling aircraft will strengthen the IAF – the IDF’s long-range strategic arm – enabling it to reach distant theatres with greater force and scope. We will continue to work together to strengthen the IDF in the current campaign and toward future challenges.”
The president of Boeing Israel, Major General (Res) Ido Nehushtan, added, “Boeing takes pride in its longstanding partnership with Israel: a relationship that dates back to the nation’s establishment. The KC-46A tanker aircraft will provide the world’s most advanced multi-mission aerial refuelling capability to the IAF.”
The IAF currently operates up to seven Boeing 707 Re’em aerial refuelling aircraft that first entered service in 1979, along with up to seven KC-130H Hercules tankers (the 2025 edition of The Military Balance, published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, lists the IAF as operating six 707 Re’em and four KC-130H tankers).
![The latest model of the Chinook, the CH-47F Block II, is expected to be in service into the 2060s, by which time successive models of the Chinook will have been in service for more than 100 years. [Boeing]](https://euro-sd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CH-47F-Block-II-Boeing-Kopie-218x150.jpg "Heavy-lift rotorcraft: Where US hegemony meets the tyranny of distance")
