{"id":591856,"date":"2026-08-21T19:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/591856\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T19:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T19:22:14","slug":"israeli-military-receives-2nd-us-made-refueling-aircraft-out-of-6-purchased-middle-east-monitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/591856\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli military receives 2nd US-made refueling aircraft out of 6 purchased \u2013 Middle East Monitor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Israeli military said Friday it had received the second of six US-made refueling aircraft set to arrive gradually, saying the planes would help extend the operational range of its air force, Anadolu reports.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, the military said a ceremony was held Thursday at Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel to receive the second \u201cGideon\u201d refueling and transport aircraft for the air force.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Boeing KC-46 aircraft landed yesterday at Nevatim Airbase and joined the Gideon 46 refueling squadron,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>The aircraft is the second of six refueling planes purchased through the Israeli Defense Ministry\u2019s procurement mission in the US for the air force, the military said.<\/p>\n<p>The aircraft is part of a broader effort by the Defense Ministry to strengthen the Israeli military, it added.<\/p>\n<p>Refueling aircraft allow fighter jets to extend their operational range and remain airborne for longer periods, while also providing advanced transport and multi-mission capabilities, according to the military.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli military carries out long-range attacks in Iran and Yemen, operations that can require aerial refueling for fighter jets.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">READ:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20260820-us-approves-potential-4-5b-sale-of-kc-46a-aircraft-to-qatar\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">US approves potential $4.5B sale of KC-46A aircraft to Qatar<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On May 27, the Israeli military announced that it had received the first of the six refueling aircraft purchased from the US.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks earlier, the Times of Israel reported that the KC-46 aircraft were set to replace the air force\u2019s aging Boeing 707 refueling fleet, which it said played a \u201cmajor role\u201d in Israel\u2019s wars against Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Key targets in Iran are located between 1,500 and 2,000 kilometers (932-1,243 miles) from Israeli air bases, while most fighter jets do not have sufficient range to complete a round trip without aerial refueling.<\/p>\n<p>The delivery of the second refueling aircraft comes amid expectations of renewed regional escalation and the possibility of Israel again joining the US in another military confrontation with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>In June 2025, Israel launched a war on Iran, before Israel and the US launched another war against Tehran on Feb. 28, which ended with a ceasefire on April 8 through Pakistani mediation.<\/p>\n<p>Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 18 regarding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, but its implementation has stalled due to disagreements over security in the strait.<\/p>\n<p>During the latest escalation, Israeli officials repeatedly threatened to strike Iran, though analyses and statements carried by Hebrew-language media indicated that Tel Aviv preferred not to enter that round of conflict, mainly because of Washington\u2019s position.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">READ:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20260821-turkiye-seeks-interpol-red-notice-for-netanyahu-over-gaza-aid-flotilla-case\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Turkiye seeks Interpol red notice for Netanyahu over Gaza aid flotilla case<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israeli military said Friday it had received the second of six US-made refueling aircraft set to arrive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-591856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591856","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=591856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}