Israel could be left without Yasur helicopters for about a year Israel today

If no creative solution is found soon, the State of Israel is expected to remain without Yasur helicopters for about a year, Israel Today has learned.

The reason is that the first two new storm helicopters will not arrive in Israel before 2026, while the State Comptroller has determined that it will not be possible to extend the life of the old storm helicopters after 2025.

The old-fashioned stormtrooper arrived in Israel in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Air Force has repeatedly succeeded in extending the life of the helicopters, warning of the obsolescence of the array and demanding that decision-makers speed up the choice of the new helicopter model.

In practice, due to governance and budget problems in recent years, the decision on the new aircraft in the Air Force has been postponed, and only last February did the Ministerial Committee convene to discuss and discuss the issue.

The commission has approved the Air Force's major acquisition plan, which will stand at about $ 9 billion of U.S. aid money, without going into the exact details.

A few days later, Defense Minister Bnei Gantz announced that he had chosen "Super Yasur", model CH-53K and made by "Lockheed Martin", as the IDF's new transport helicopter, and in fact preferred it over the Chinook made by Boeing.

The most advanced helicopter in the world

The "Super Yasur" or "K" for short is the most advanced and heavy Western helicopter in the world, which can carry a heavy weight of more than 12,000 kilograms for a distance of 110 miles.

Another advantage is that this is a completely new model, and its service life can reach up to 50 years.

In Israel, there are plans to purchase 12 K helicopters in the first phase, and six more in the future, in accordance with the budgetary constraints that they are currently trying to solve through loans at the expense of future American aid funds.

In practice, since last February the Ministerial Committee on Equipping has not convened again to ratify the deal, and it has not yet been finally signed with the US Pentagon.

The new K-model helicopter, Photo: Lockheed Martin

Recall that the State Comptroller stated that the life of obsolete helicopters could not be extended after 2025, so most of them would reach 10,000 flight hours, which is the flight hours ceiling set by the manufacturer, which would endanger human lives.

It is estimated that the LOA will be signed with the Pentagon in early 2022, after which the final agreement will be signed.

But even if the deal is signed tomorrow morning, the first helicopters will not arrive in Israel before 2026 due to budget issues and payment schedule, as well as the time the helicopter is manufactured and the time it will take to install the Israeli systems.

Even after he arrives in Israel, it will take several months to train him operationally.

Not only that, but according to the current planning, in 2026 only two Yasur helicopters will arrive in Israel, and later the rest of the helicopters will arrive at a rate of about four a year.

Therefore, from a situation where the State of Israel has more than one usable helicopter squadron, if the helicopters' lives are not extended, the Air Force will not have any Yasur helicopters at all, and even in 2026 the Corps will have only two active helicopters.

The Air Force plans to extend the life of the storm helicopters, but it is doubtful that anyone would be willing to drive a car that is more than 50 years old, and certainly not to fly a helicopter at such an extreme age, which has exceeded its flight quota.

Extending the life of the storms could endanger not only the pilots, but also many combat forces, since one of the main purposes of the storms is to fly forces deep into enemy territory.

Recall that in November 2019 a heavy disaster was averted after a helicopter crashed a rape landing landing in Judea and Samaria following a technical malfunction, when in our womb were dozens of fighters from the elite elite unit. The fighters managed to get out of the helicopter shortly before it ignited and burned completely.

The IDF and the Ministry of Defense are working to complete the approval required by the Ministerial Committee for Equipping to procure the CH-53K helicopters. The Air Force is working to maintain its operational capability without compromising its routine and emergency missions. "