Israel will soon buy $285 million in U.S. arms, including $150 million worth of missile-carrying Apache helicopters to defend it against enemy tanks, an Israeli Embassy official said Wednesday.
Besides 18 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, the sale would include 539 Hcllfire missiles; 14 spare Hellfire launchers; 16 spare engines; support equipment; ammunition; and U.S. maintenance services.
On April 12, the St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas Co., whose Mesa, Ariz., helicopter company makes the Apaches, announced the Israeli order and said it expects to begin delivery by the end of September. Israel would be the first foreign country allowed to buy the Apache.
The $285 million package would be Israel’s first new major purchase this year of U.S. weapons. The sale is to be paid for over several years with U.S. foreign aid dollars that Israel is required to spend in the United States.
It is not expected to be blocked by Congress or the Bush administration. The sale was mentioned in President Bush’s 1990 “Javits Report,” in which the administration tells Congress of any weapons sales likely to be proposed during the year.
On Jan. 29, the Army announced that it had proposed the sale, and called Israel “an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”
Formal notification to Congress would occur after Israeli acceptance of the letter of offer. Once that notification occurs, Congress then has 30 days to vote to block the sale. Otherwise, it becomes official automatically.
The Apache fits into Israel’s defense philosophy “to buy fewer weapons but better weapons,” a pro-Israel lobbyist said here.
Although the Apaches are expensive compared with other helicopters, “the overall cost for defense is lower” because “fewer (Apaches) do more,” said another lobbyist.
Besides being more heavily armored than other helicopters, the Apache’s head gun automatically turns as the pilot’s head turns, one lobbyist said.
Israel plans to emulate the U.S. Army in deploying the Apaches with Hcllfire missiles, a laser-guided air-to-ground missile made by Rockwell International Missile Systems Division of Duluth, Ga., and Martin Marietta Electronics and Missiles Group of Orlando, Fla.
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