Israel Approves Early Combat Systems Integration for CH-53K Pereh Heavy-Lift Helicopters.

Israel has signed a $130 million agreement with Elbit Systems to integrate Israeli avionics, command-and-control, and missile defense systems into its incoming CH-53K Pereh helicopters. The move ensures the Israeli Air Force receives a fully missionized heavy-lift platform designed for contested airspace rather than a baseline U.S. configuration.

Israel is moving to harden and missionize its next-generation heavy-lift fleet before the first aircraft even reaches an operational squadron. On February 5, 2026, the Israel Ministry of Defense’s Procurement Directorate signed an approximately $130 million agreement with Elbit Systems to integrate advanced Israeli command-and-control, avionics, electronic warfare, and a directed infrared countermeasure capability onto the Israeli Air Force’s incoming CH-53K helicopters. The deal covers 12 aircraft, the future CH-53K “Pereh” fleet, slated to replace the long-serving CH-53 “Yas’ur” that has anchored Israel’s most demanding assault, recovery, and special-mission lift for decades.
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Israel's CH-53K Pereh will field a missionized Israeli cockpit with enhanced command-and-control, advanced avionics for low-visibility and night operations, integrated electronic warfare, and DIRCM active anti-missile protection, enabling safer heavy-lift insertions, rapid obstacle and landing-zone detection, and higher survivability in contested airspace (Picture source: Israel MoD).

The CH-53Ks were acquired through a U.S. Foreign Military Sales framework, and Sikorsky is assembling the airframes in Connecticut before moving them to a dedicated modification line to install country-specific equipment for Israeli operational requirements. That sequencing matters: Israel is effectively treating mission systems as a parallel program, not an afterthought, so that network integration, cockpit ergonomics, and survivability can be validated as one coherent baseline before the helicopters enter squadron service.

The CH-53K itself represents a generational leap in heavy-lift capability compared to earlier Sea Stallion variants. The helicopter is designed around a new drivetrain and three high-power engines that significantly expand external and internal lift margins, alongside a wider and more flexible cabin layout intended to simplify transport of bulky equipment, vehicles, and palletized cargo. For Israel, the relevance is concrete. Heavy-lift sorties routinely involve moving combat engineering assets, ammunition, and recovery teams under time pressure, often in hot, dusty environments that erode the performance margins of legacy platforms.

What the Elbit-led Israeli configuration adds is the connective tissue that turns raw lift into a survivable combat system fully embedded within Israel’s force design. While the ministry has not released component-level diagrams, the described package points to a missionized cockpit built around Israeli command-and-control and aviation software, with avionics optimized for degraded visual environments and complex low-level routing. Such a configuration is intended to improve crew coordination, reduce cognitive load, and support rapid decision-making during tactical approaches into confined or unprepared landing zones, especially at night or in adverse weather.

A central operational benefit highlighted by defense officials is the ability to identify safe landing zones and obstacles in real time. This implies advanced sensor fusion, digital terrain data, and pilot-assist functions that allow crews to assess landing options quickly while minimizing exposure. In practice, this can shorten hover time, reduce predictable flight profiles, and lower the risk envelope during insertion and extraction phases, traditionally the most vulnerable moments for large helicopters.

The most consequential survivability upgrade in the announced package is the integration of an advanced directed infrared countermeasure system, paired with electronic warfare subsystems. DIRCM technology is designed to counter infrared-guided missiles by detecting an incoming threat and actively disrupting the seeker during its terminal phase. For a heavy helicopter that may need to slow down, hover, or fly repeated routes during special operations, casualty evacuation, or deep recovery missions, this layer of protection is critical. It reflects the reality of widespread man-portable air-defense systems across the region and the likelihood that future operations will take place in contested airspace rather than permissive environments.

Israel’s emphasis on indigenous electronic warfare and cockpit integration also reflects a strategic preference for operational sovereignty. By controlling the mission systems layer, Israel can align the CH-53K with its own datalink architecture, communications security standards, and evolving tactical concepts, while still benefiting from U.S. logistical and sustainment frameworks. This approach allows rapid adaptation based on operational lessons without waiting for external baseline updates, a consideration that carries weight for a platform expected to remain in service for decades.

The program timeline underscores that urgency. Assembly of the Israeli aircraft has already begun, and initial deliveries are expected toward the end of the decade, roughly as sustaining the aging Yas’ur fleet becomes increasingly costly and technically risky. In that context, the $130 million Elbit agreement should be seen not merely as an avionics and protection upgrade, but as a readiness investment. It buys survivability, integration, and mission confidence for a helicopter fleet that underpins Israel’s ability to project force, recover personnel, and operate decisively under the most demanding conditions.