CH-53K Helicopters to be Produced for Israel

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Lockheed Martin will produce 12 CH-53K King Stallion helicopters for Israel under a US Navy Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement. The first four of 12 aircraft have begun production at Lockheed’s facilities in the US, based on the first part of the contract signed recently.

The four helicopters that will be manufactured for Israel come in addition to the last contract signed between Lockheed and the US Navy regarding the manufacturing of additional nine helicopters, as part of the Marines’ program for total of 200 CH-53K helicopters purchase.

The CH-53K helicopters will gradually replace Israel Air Force’s fleet of CH-53D Yasur helicopters operative in various missions for already more than 50 years. The new helicopters demonstrate unprecedented capabilities, according to the company’s announcement, including survivability at the battlefield, safety, efficiency and less workload for the aircrews. Furthermore, the technical support of the helicopter is more simple, efficient and less costly in comparison with the older helicopters.