- The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a $96m contract to equip Israel to accommodate the new CH-53K fleet of helicopters
- This fleet will be housed and supported at the Israeli Air Force’s Tel Nof air base
- CH-53K, also known as the King Stallion, but which Israel have designated Pereh, can lift payloads weighing up to 36,000 pounds
The US DoD has awarded a contract worth $96m to the New York-based company Exyte to equip Israel to accommodate and support its 12 new CH-53K Yas’ur heavy lift helicopters.
Israel’s Pereh fleet will replace its 22 ageing CH-53D helicopters, known as the Yas’ur fleet, which according to intelligence from the analytics firm GlobalData, some units were acquired from as early as 1969 and as late as 1991.
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According to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the contraxcting authority, work will be performed in Israel, most likely at Tel Nof air base, where the existing Yas’ur units are based, with an estimated completion date of 23 March 2029.
The Israeli Government agreed to purchase 12 helicopters in multibillion dollar deal in 2021 until the US State Department approved a total sale of up to 18 platforms in August 2023. The manufacturer, Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky, started the assembly process for the initial 12 units at its Stratford Connecticut facility in August last year.
The arrival of the first helicopter to Israel is anticipated in 2028.
Status of the ‘Pereh’ fleet today
Another $9.5m DoD contract was awarded to Sikorsky at the end of January 2026 to support the builder’s maintenance, repair and overhail tooling.
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By GlobalDataSpecifically, the deal will stand up repaircapability at Sikorsky’s Overhaul and Repair facility to mitigate scheduling of test equipment and resources that support both Production and Repair of Repairables.
In essence, this will allow for separate resources for both the Production line and Repair line, improving repair turnaround time. The type of tooling required are stands, fixtures and jigs.
In the meantime, the Israeli Government has already contracted Elbit Systems to deliver various systems for the fleet in a $130m deal struck in early February 2026.
The Defense Procurement Directorate within the Israel Ministry of Defense ordered the integration of advanced Israeli technologies, including command and control, avionics, and electronic warfare systems, and the advanced anti-missile DIRCM system, on 12 new helicopters
