Israel signs LOA with US for KC-46A, plans agreements for other capability enhancements

Israel has signed a letter of acceptance (LOA) with the United States for the procurement of two Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft, and plans further similar agreements to enhance its qualitive military edge (QME) in the region.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 22 February that the LOA for the tankers was signed over the previous weekend. It added that it intends to enter into similar agreements for the standing up of a third squadron of Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir combat aircraft, the replacement of its Sikorsky CH-53D Yasur heavy-lift helicopters, the procurement of advanced munitions, “and more”.

“The procurement plan based on US security assistance is crucial to strengthening the Israeli Air Force [IAF], and for the [Israel Defense Forces’] QME in the decades to come,” the MoD said from its official Twitter account.

News of the KC-46A LOA came 12 months after Israel was cleared by the US in March 2020 to buy eight of the tanker-transport aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of eight Boeing 707 tanker-transport aircraft that it first received in 1973, and four Lockheed Martin KC-130H tanker-transports from 1976. Both of these ageing platforms have increasingly been suffering from serviceability issues, with a replacement type or types now long overdue.