Sikorsky has started final assembly of the first CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter for the Israeli Air Force (IAF), Lockheed Martin announced on Thursday.
The company said the cockpit and cabin sections of the aircraft were recently joined at its Connecticut facility.
The helicopter is the first of 12 ordered under a $2 billion agreement signed by Israel’s Defense Ministry in 2023. The first two aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2028.
The CH-53K, which Israel will designate as the Pere, is set to replace the aging CH-53D Yas’ur fleet that has been in service since the late 1960s. The new platform offers three times the payload capacity of the older helicopters, along with higher cruising speeds, improved survivability in combat, and reduced maintenance demands.
According to Sikorsky, after production is completed, each helicopter will move to a separate integration line in the United States, where Israeli defense company Elbit Systems will install navigation, communications, and electronic warfare systems. That integration work, valued at several hundred million dollars, will bring the total cost of each aircraft above $200 million, making the Pere one of the most expensive helicopters ever purchased by the IAF.
While these modifications will delay delivery to Israel, officials say the arrangement is intended to accelerate the process of reaching operational readiness once the helicopters arrive.
Although Israel originally considered acquiring 18 helicopters, only 12 were funded in the current budget cycle. Defense officials indicated that an additional six units could be ordered later, depending on operational requirements and lessons drawn from recent conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Full delivery of the initial 12 helicopters is expected by 2030. Until then, the IAF will continue to rely on its Yas’ur fleet, which will be nearly six decades old by the end of the decade. Those helicopters have undergone two major upgrades and life-extension programs to remain in service.
Israel remains the only foreign customer for the CH-53K, which was developed primarily for the U.S. Marine Corps. Germany and Japan both evaluated the platform, but Berlin ultimately chose Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook.
“The Israeli IAF will receive the CH-53K, which brings with it unprecedented capabilities, precisely tailored to its operational needs,” said Dana Piattone, vice president for Marine Corps programs at Sikorsky. “This is the standard for future operators, who will be able to easily add a variety of digital applications and technologies for missions such as supply runs, troop transport, heavy lift, and more.”
For Israel, the acquisition ensures that its air force maintains heavy-lift capacity well into the coming decades.