Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger | “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” | May 26, 2026
Israeli Air Force members wait for F-35I Adirs to launch for a Red Flag-Nellis 23-2 mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, March 16, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Trevor Bell)
*The export reach of the US-manufactured C-130 transport plane has multiplied 4-5 times since Israel received its first 2 units in 1971. Since 2010, more than 2,700 C-130s have been ordered and/or delivered to 70 countries. The total production volume of the initial C-130 program (A-H) reached 2,271 airframes, while the highly modernized C-130J Super Hercules variant has already surpassed 2,800 aircraft (48% operated by the US Air Force and 52% exported). The cost of 1 C-130J Hercules is $85mn-$100mn.
*As is the case with the US-made F-35, F-16 and F-15 combat aircraft and Black Hawk and Apache helicopters, Israel has performed as a Triple-A Store on behalf of the US aerospace industry. It operates Lockheed-Martin’s C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft at high intensity, providing the US manufacturer and Air Force with free, high-stakes operational testing and capabilities-validation, invaluable structural wear data, and unmatched marketing prestige. This process has catapulted the Hercules to the most effectively-designed and widely-exported tactical airlifter in history, which performs heavy-lift cargo missions, troop deployments, aerial refueling, and humanitarian aid assignments. Israel has also provided the US Air Force with unique combat-proven battle tactics.
*Combat-proven track record is the most critical accelerator of defense exports, and Israel’s survival challenges have forced Israel’s Air Force (as well as the Israel Defense Forces, in general) to employ C-130 airframe (and dozens of other US military systems) in the most demanding tactical scenarios imaginable. More than other Air Force, the Israeli Air Force experiences the “do-or-die” state of mind on a daily basis, which has yielded unparalleled battle experience, innovative battle tactics and technical and mechanical upgrades, which has been shared with the US manufacturers and the US Air Force. For example, the 1976 Jonathan (Entebbe) Operation became one of the most powerful marketing events in the aircraft’s history, demonstrating an unprecedent capacity for long-range, low-altitude, clandestine penetration and short-field landing on primitive, unlit runways. Moreover, the 1991 Operation Solomon, which airlifted over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel pushed the C-130’s structural and payload limits to the absolute maximum.
*Israel has showcased prospective global buyers the C-130’s unparalleled durability, versatility, and reliability, cementing the C-130 as the undisputed international standard for tactical airlift, and the longest continuously manufactured military aircraft in aviation history.
*Israel has not been just another end-user of advanced US military systems, but a unique value-added modifier. Israeli upgrades have substantially improved the performance and export of US defense and aerospace industries (which employ 2.5 million people), extending the operational lifespan of aircrafts far beyond original engineering estimates.
*Leveraging Israel’s unique operational, maintenance and repair experience, has led to US-Israel joint efforts like the state-of-the-art C-130 simulation center in Israel, which has refined training methodologies, benefitting both countries, in general, and the global C-130 ecosystem, in particular.
*Israel has contributed in a similar manner to some 400 US commercial high-tech giants, which maintain substantial research and development centers in Israel, enhancing their global edge.
The Bottom Line
*Israel receives – with much gratitude – world class US defense systems in its role as the largest, cost-effective research and development center and battle-tested laboratory for the US defense and aerospace industries.
*The Israeli use of advanced US military systems has saved the US many years of research and development, which has generated mega-billion-dollar annual saving of research and development cost.
*The Israeli battle-tested laboratory has enhanced the US competitiveness in the global market, which has yielded a mega-billion-dollar annual increase in export.
*This has expanded the US employment base, increasing corporate and individual income tax revenues to the US Treasury.
*Israel’s unique combat experience serves as the most productive innovation center for the US Armed Forces, improving their battle tactics.
*Israel has, also, provided the US a unique flow of top-quality intelligence, preempting anti-US Islamic terrorism (on US soil and globally), and exposing the vulnerabilities and advantages of enemies’ and rivals’ military systems. This flow of Israeli intelligence has been compared by General George Keagan, a former Chief of the US Air Force Intelligence, to the output of Five CIA’s (one CIA’s annual budget is about $15bn).
*Israel has been the US’ most effective beachhead in the Middle East, constituting the largest US military base outside the US with no US boots on the ground, sparing the US the mega-billion of-dollars needed to manufacture and deploy (to the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean) a few new aircraft carriers (2026 cost of an advanced aircraft carrier – $10bn-$13bn), and accompany them with 5-7 ground divisions (2026 cost of deploying 1 ground division to the Middle East – $1bn).
*The aforementioned data demonstrate the mutually-beneficial two-way-street cooperation between the US and Israel, which has yielded a dramatic Return-on-Investment on the annual US $3.8bn investment in Israel (misperceived as “foreign aid”).
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