The debate in the Israeli defence forces (IDF) is now in low profile but it will heat up after the current war ends – should Israel invest in more advanced combat helicopter or instead in more armed UAV’s.
A very senior source said that an armed UAV can now perform all the missions of a combat helicopter “and this while the targets on the ground are transmitted directly in real time to the armed UAV by the commanders in the battle field”
The combat helicopter received massive support from the groind forces of the IDF. This resulted in an Israel evaluation for an emergency request for the supply of the Boeing Apache AH-64E version of this helicopter.
If a decision is made soon, Israel will submit the request through CENTCOM . Then it will be channeled to the U.S MOD.The only option is to get a number of the E version from the U.S army fleet.
Israel has been evaluating the purchase of the E version for some years but no decision has been made.
The ground forces of the IDF showed great interest in the E version. The current war according to senior sources proved that this helicopter can be a major contribution to the operations of ground forces especially in urban aeras.
The Israeli airforce (IAF) is currently operating the AH64-A (PETEN) and the AH-64D (SARAF)
At his moment, the acquisition is pending as the Israeli airforce (IAF) has earmarked all its budget for the acquisition of the CH-53 K and the KC-46A.
The IDF ground forces command has some years ago requested the enhancement of the IAF’s combat helicopters. This as an operation lessons from some previous combat in Gaza and Lebanon.
The request is for up to 40 Apache E helicopters and the upgrade of the existing fleet of Apache D.
In recent years the IAF has added Israeli weapon systems to the combat suit of its the Apache combat helicopters.
One very interesting such addition is the adaptation of the Rafael Spike NLOS for launch by the IAF’s Apache helicopters.
Rafael designed the missile, one of the Spike family of missiles , as a defensive weapon system that can engage targets in great precision and in great ranges.
The SPIKE NLOS is combat proven and proved to be an effective tool for both High intensity conflicts (HIC) and Low intensity conflicts (LIC) as well. According to Rafael , the Spike-NLOS is one of the most advanced and modern precision weapon system.
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