The Air Force HQ has retracted its intention of purchasing Apache Longbow helicopters manufactured by Boeing of the US, because of their high price. The deal was to have amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Air Force chief of staff Brigadier Avner Naveh defined Boeing’s price offer as "excessively high and unreasonable costs". He said that other options for upgrading the assault helicopter system would be examined. "We shall shortly be asking for details on the AH-1-Z Bell helicopter, an upgraded version of the Super-Cobra, that is currently under development. The helicopter plans were presented to me by the Commanding Officer of the US Marine Air Corps, and my impression is that this is a helicopter with impressive capabilities. We are still interested in the Longbow, but it is our duty to compare offers".
In an interview with the Air Force magazine, Naveh rejected assessments that the IAF’s future assault helicopter procurement deal would be greater than $2.5 billion, the size of the previous transaction.
"The budget defined for the fighter planes transaction was and is $2.5 billion", Naveh said, "and, in approaching manufacturers, we asked for details on transactions in a larger volume, as options we may consider taking up in the future, if the financing sources are found".
Published by Israel's Business Arena April 19, 1999