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The US State Department has approved the potential sale of 18 Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters to the Israeli regime in a Foreign Military Sales deal worth about $3.4 billion amid reported demands from Tel Aviv for more American weaponry in case of a renewed US deal with Iran as pledged by the Biden administration.
The helicopter deal would come with 60 T408-GE-400 Engines and a mix of communications equipment, GAU-21 .50 caliber machine guns and mission systems, the US-based Breaking Defense military news outlet reported Friday, noting that major weapons maker Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor.
According to the report, the announcement of the sale come as the Israeli regime “is sending signals to Washington that any renewed deal with Iran should come with more arms for Israel, including items not normally sold to allies.”
Israel demands more weapons if US rejoins Iran deal
Citing Israeli sources, it reported earlier in July that “should the US and Iran reach a new nuclear agreement, Israel will request new military compensation from Washington” — including technologies that have not been previously offered to the occupying regime.
It also noted that Tel Aviv is weighing a request for “advanced systems” that would enable a preemptive strike on Iran.
According to the July 13 report, while the “Israeli sources” would not say exactly what systems would be involved in the discussions, “the capability could be applied to the Israeli Navy’s new Dolphin AIP submarines.” It then cited “regional sources” to claim that one of these submarines is always “in the vicinity of Iran.”
Other US-based military news outlets further reported on Saturday that the Israeli regime has also “requested 36 embedded global positioning system and inertial navigation systems with selective availability and anti-spoofing modules.”
“Other requests include communication equipment, GAU-21 .50 caliber machine guns, a mission planning system, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, as well as aircrew and maintenance training,” Flight Global news website reported.
Notifying the US Congress of the helicopter deal, Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a July 30 statement: “The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability.”
