The Israeli government will procure the CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter from US manufacturer Sikorsky for the country’s armed forces. Defence Minister Benny Gantz received and accepted the recommendation for the helicopter model from high-ranking staff yesterday, the Israeli Defence Ministry announced in a tweet.
According to the tweet, the recommendation was made by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and Director General of the Ministry of Defence Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Eshel. Israeli media report that the Sikorsky CH-53K YASOUR helicopters will be part of the IDF’s “Tnufa” (Momentum), multi-year plan. They will replace the YASOUR helicopters employed by the IAF since the late 1960s.
The German Armed Forces have also operated a predecessor model of the CH-53K for many decades and want to replace it either by the CH-53K or Boeing‘s CH-47. However, the German MOD stopped the direct negotiations with the two manufacturers due to cost overruns last year. Currently, Germany seems to prefer a Foreign Military Sale after the German MOD requested information about the two helicopters from the US government.
Jack Richardson
