Falcon powers – The Biden administration is delaying the approval process for an Israeli request to purchase 12-15 Apache attack helicopters, according to a report from Israeli Channel 12 news on Monday evening.
According to the report, “it is not clear whether the delay is purely a bureaucratic technical issue or something more,” while emphasizing that “the Israeli military needs these planes, and this is causing pressure in Israel.”
The report noted that “one of the main lessons the Israeli military learned from the events of last October 7th is the lack of attack helicopters, which could have been of crucial importance.”
The report stated that Tel Aviv has submitted a request to the Americans to purchase 12-15 Apache fighter helicopters.
The report pointed out that the model requested by the Israeli military is not currently available from the manufacturer, Boeing, which has prompted Israel to make a special request to the U.S. military to “relinquish its ‘spot’ in the production line.”
According to the report, Israel has asked Washington to allow the “immediate delivery of the ready-made helicopters to the Israeli military before or at the expense of the U.S. military.”
The report claims that the U.S. military has agreed to the Israeli request, and what Tel Aviv is still lacking is the “formal approval (LOA) from the Biden administration, which must approve the deal and determine the number of helicopters, their cost, and the delivery date.”
The report alleges that the U.S. administration is delaying the decision-making process on this matter.
Last Friday, Reuters reported that, according to U.S. officials familiar with an updated arms shipment list, the Biden administration has sent large quantities of ammunition to Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, including over 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles.
