{"id":275481,"date":"2026-02-05T13:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/275481\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:37:12","slug":"elbit-systems-defense-ministry-sign-new-helicopter-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/275481\/","title":{"rendered":"Elbit Systems, Defense Ministry, sign new helicopter deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Defense Ministry on Thursday announced a $130 million deal with Elbit Systems<\/a> to outfit and integrate advanced Israeli technologies into the 12 CH-53K “Pereh” helicopters which it has purchased from Lockheed Martin.<\/p>\n

These advanced Elbit<\/a> technologies will include command and control, avionics, electronic warfare systems, and the advanced anti-missile DIRCM system.<\/p>\n

Lockheed Martin’s 12 new helicopters are expected to replace the IDF’s aging “Yas’ur” helicopters, with deliveries scheduled to be ongoing between 2028-2030.<\/p>\n

Pereh helicopters offer significantly enhanced performance, including the ability to carry three times the payload, higher cruising speeds, increased combat survivability, and reduced maintenance demands.<\/p>\n

The CH-53K helicopters were purchased through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement signed in 2023 with the US government.<\/p>\n

The helicopters are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and are currently in the assembly process at the main production facility in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

Upon completion of assembly, the ministry said that helicopters are expected to move to a dedicated installation and production line established for adapting the American-configuration helicopters to Israeli systems tailored to the operational requirements defined by the air force.<\/p>\n

The integration of Israeli systems is expected to enhance the cockpit environment, enable flight in challenging conditions, and support the identification of safe landing zones and obstacles, stated the ministry.<\/p>\n

While the integration work will likely somewhat delay the helicopters<\/a>\u2019 arrival in Israel, it is expected to shorten their transition to operational use.<\/p>\n

Originally, the air force planned to purchase 18 helicopters, but only 12 were funded by the government so far.<\/p>\n

Defense Minister Israel Katz<\/a> said, \u201cThis deal marks a major milestone in strengthening the IDF and securing the Israeli Air Force\u2019s operational edge for years ahead. Integrating cutting-edge Israeli systems into the world\u2019s most advanced heavy-lift helicopter ensures these platforms are fully adapted to Israel\u2019s unique combat requirements.”<\/p>\n

Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram stated, \u201cThe CH-53K helicopters are a key part of the multi-year procurement program the Ministry is pursuing alongside the IDF for fighter squadrons, helicopters, tankers, and various armaments that will define the IDF’s force structure for the coming decade and beyond.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Defense Ministry on Thursday announced a $130 million deal with Elbit Systems to outfit and integrate advanced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17466,97833,42,25262,1031,2723,38056,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-275481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-defense-ministry","tag-elbit-systems","tag-headlines","tag-helicopter","tag-idf","tag-israel-katz","tag-lockheed","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}