Israel’s expansion of their Apache helicopter cache is a reflection of two years of constant wars.
Soldiers from the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Spartan, get ready to take off during Exercise Juniper Oak 23. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Sam De Leon).
JERUSALEM — Last week’s announcement that Israel has been approved to buy 30 new AH-64E Apache attack helicopters represents a shift in priorities for the Israel Defense Forces, as Israel seeks to bolster the armed forces in the wake of two years of a multi-front wars, analysts tell Breaking Defense.
The proposed sale comes with an estimated $3.8 billion price tag, although quantities and total costs of which could still shift during negotiations. But beyond the money, the decision to procure the newest E model represents a reversal from just a few years ago, when the IDF had made a conscious decision to move away from manned rotorcraft.
“This is lesson from the war in Gaza. After it appeared that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were pushing attack helicopters out, making them seem obsolete on the battlefield, the lesson learned during [the war] was different,” Eitan Ben Eliyahu, a retired Maj. Gen. and former Commander of the Israeli Air Force, told Breaking Defense.
The last two years of war have shown that the Apaches “remain a vital necessity on the battlefield, particularly in urban warfare and commando operations.”
Jacob Nagel, a Brigadier General (Res.) and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who also previously served as acting National Security Advisor for Israel’s Prime Minister, echoed similar sentiments. He noted that prior to the recent war “the dominant concept was indeed to slowly close the helicopter squadrons and move to performing missions using unmanned arrays.”
Israel began practicing with the Apache in the 1980s, and acquired its first helicopters in 1990 — a set of aged AH-64As that had seen action in the Gulf War. They were integrated into the 113th Hornet squadron. Later, with the acquisition of the Apache AH-64D Longbow, Israel opened a second squadron, dubbed the 190th Magic Touch, which have been a mainstay of Israeli airpower since, aside from being briefly grounded in the summer of 2023 due to a technical issue.
By the time of the 2023 war, however, the Apaches were aging, Nagel said. And while decisions were made to replace Israel’s aging heavy lifters in 2021 and refuelers in 2022, there was a lack of movement to recapitalize the manned rotorcraft fleet.
In fact, Nagel said, before the Oct. 7 attacks, “the intention was to immediately close the Alpha helicopter squadron and maintain the Delta squadron until its natural ‘death.’” However, the war “proved the vitality of the array for unique missions, and therefore a decision was made to continue to maintain the two old types of helicopters and simultaneously acquire new ones, called ‘Echo’ [Ah-64E], in a volume to be determined according to budgetary constraints.”
Last week’s approval by the US to purchase the AH-64E models did not come out of thin air. In January 2024 reports in Israeli media indicated that Israel wanted 12 Apaches. A subsequent report at The Jerusalem Post noted that the plan was to acquire 15 helicopters, with the option of acquiring another 15 later. (Given how FMS deals work, the fact that 30 helicopters have been cleared does not mean Israel will buy all 30, or buy them all at once, but this way the logistics are clear should they move towards that number.)
Yaakov Katz, author of Shadow Strike, a book about Israel’s raid on Syria’s nuclear program, and a Fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, said that the Israeli military is working to improve its capabilities to prevent the kind of ground assault that occurred on Oct. 7.
“Israel had been more focused on drones, standoff capabilities and it’s longer-range aircraft, but this shows a clear importance that the military is putting on the need to have close air support for ground forces and border security,” Katz said.
Nagel says the Israeli Air Force is facing a complex and difficult logistical task. “Israel is the only country in the world that continues to operate ‘Alpha’ helicopters, which causes significant logistical difficulties, a shortage of spare parts, and more.”
Nagel played a key role during the war, helping examine Israel’s security budget force buildup plans, as head of what became known as the Nagel Committee.
Asked whether the acquisition of the 30 new helicopters is primarily a replacement for the aging airframes, he noted that the move is part of a broader decision to keep the helicopter capabilities and that the overall number of helicopters will be determined by future budgets. It is not clear if this will mean adding a new squadron, but the older helicopters will be retained.
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