Boeing, Lockheed Martin Compete for Israel’s Heavy-lift Helicopter Replacement Program

Boeing and Lockheed Martin will be competing against each other for Israel’s heavy-lift CH-53 Yasur helicopters replacement program.

Israel is considering two options of rotary-wing aircraft. Boeing is pitting CH-47 Chinook against Lockheed Martin’s CH-53K King Stallion by Sikorsky, the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

Israel should decide what it wants from the helicopter? It has to decide whether it would be used for skirmishes near the border or for special operations and extracting forces and pilots from Iran, Lt.-Col. (res.) Reuven Ben-Shalom, a cross-cultural strategist and former CH-53 pilot in the IAF was quoted as saying by the Post.

The main issue that Israel should focus on is the helicopter’s operational capabilities such as payload and distance, Reuven said.

Funding for the procurement is to come from part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 2016 between Jerusalem and Washington that would provide Israel with $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade.