[R-G] Israel sees rise in US military aid for 2009-18

[Anthony Fenton]

  Jane's Defence Weekly  - August 08, 2007

Israel sees rise in US military aid for 2009-18

Alon Ben-David Correspondent, JDW
Tel Aviv


The US will increase its military aid to Israel by USD6 billion in  
2009-18, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced on 30 July.

According to the new military assistance agreement, to be signed in  
August, the annual Foreign Military Financing (FMF) package to  
Israel, currently set at USD2.4 billion, will be increased by 25 per  
cent and raised to an annual USD3 billion in 2009. "I think this is a  
significant and important improvement of the defence aid to Israel,"  
said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Senior Israeli sources said they believe that the increased military  
aid to Israel and Saudi Arabia might be a signal from the current US  
administration that it has no intention of intervening militarily  
with Iran's nuclear programme and that the matter will be left for  
the regional parties to resolve.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora expressed dismay at the  
increased aid to Israel, warning that it "will escalate crises and  
increase feelings among the Arabs and Muslims that their just causes  
are ignored while Israel's interests are protected".

Initially, Israel was expecting a more modest raise in US military  
aid, but the substantial increase it finally received was given to  
balance US plans to sell advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and  
the Gulf states.

"We understand the US' need to assist the moderate Arab states, which  
are standing on one front with the United States and us in the  
struggle against Iran," said Olmert. "In addition to the increased  
aid, I was given a clear and detailed commitment to maintain our  
qualitative advantage vis-à-vis the neighbouring countries," he  
added, hinting of a US commitment that the weapons supplied to Saudi  
Arabia will have restricted capabilities.

It is, however, not yet clear whether the US has also committed to  
grant Israel access to restricted technologies, such as the F-22  
Raptor Advanced Tactical Fighter, which is much sought after by the  
Israel Air Force (IAF).

The Israel Defence Force (IDF), which received advanced notice of the  
expected FMF increase, has already begun preparing its procurement  
plan based on the new budget, with all services competing for their  
share.

The current requirements accumulate to more than the USD30 billion  
FMF package guaranteed for the next 10 years and the IDF General  
Staff will decide on its priorities between those different  
requirements, which include:

* armoured vehicles - the IDF considers modernising its ground forces  
as its most urgent requirement. The major procurement will be new  
armoured personnel carriers for its infantry, some 100 Merkava-based  
Namer infantry fighting vehicles, which will be partially  
manufactured in the US, along with 300 General Dynamics Land Systems  
Strykers;

* fighter aircraft - the IAF has already decided to acquire 100 F-35  
Joint Strike Fighters and is currently seeking to begin the  
procurement in 2014. While each aircraft costs USD47 million, the  
total contract may add up to USD8 billion. A US approval to sell the  
F-22 might postpone the F-35 acquisition;

* transport aircraft - the IAF is set to acquire six C-130J Super  
Hercules: a contract estimated at USD400 million. Additionally, the  
IAF is planning to have an overall upgrade of eight of its ageing  
C-130E/H aircraft;

* refuelling aircraft - the IAF requirement to replace its ageing  
KC-707 tankers is widely supported among the IDF, but currently no  
suitable replacement has been found. Therefore, the IDF will allocate  
a special budget for a future decision on tanker procurement;

* attack helicopters - the IAF has asked to upgrade a second squadron  
of its AH-64A Apaches to the AH-64D Longbow configuration. However,  
this requirement has little support from the IDF;

* precise munitions - the replenishing and increasing of the IAF  
arsenal of precise munitions following the 2006 war in Lebanon was  
already approved. The IAF is planning to acquire hundreds of strike  
munitions, mostly Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guided  
bomb kits; and

* navy modernisation - in addition to the two new Dolphin-class  
submarines currently being built in Germany and financed mostly by  
Israel, the Israel Navy is asking to acquire two advanced corvettes  
equipped with long-range strike capabilities and a phased-array  
radar, preferably based on the US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship design.  
The overall cost of this requirement is estimated at USD1 billion; it  
is seen as highly controversial among the IDF senior command.

The procurement decisions are also dependent on the amount of FMF  
funds that the US will allow Israel to use for acquisitions outside  
the US. At present Israel is allowed to convert 26 per cent of FMF  
funds and is asking the US to increase it.

The modernisation plans will also be affected by the highly disputed  
local defence budget, which has already generated a first clash  
between new Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Olmert.  
The government rejected Barak's demand to increase the local defence  
budget by ILS7 billion (USD1.6 billion) in 2008.

Despite Barak's objection, the government approved a multi-year  
defence budget, which will be set at ILS51.4 billion (USD12 billion,  
including USD3 billion in FMF) and will be increased each year by 1.2  
per cent.

The decision could bring an end to the traditional annual dispute  
over the defence budget. However, the Defence Ministry fears that, as  
long as it is not translated into legislation, there is no guarantee  
that it will be upheld by future governments.