The Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced that the 1,000th American aircraft in the comprehensive military equipment and weapons airlift operation landed in Israel.
The aircraft, operated by Challenge Airlines IL and carrying extensive military equipment, was received at the airport by Defense Ministry Director-General Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram.
Since the outbreak of war, a ministry statement said that it and the IDF "have been conducting a cross-continental logistics airlift operation on a scale unprecedented since the establishment of the state, providing comprehensive support for all of the IDF's current and future needs."
It said that to date, over 120,000 tons of military equipment, munitions, weapons systems, and protective gear were transferred to Israel via 1,000 aircraft and approximately 150 maritime vessels.
This joint operation is led by the ministry's Defense Procurement Directorate (DPD), through the International Defense Transportation Unit, the ministry's liaison offices in the US and Berlin, the IDF Planning and Force Build-Up Directorate, and the air force.
Israel aims to gain defense production independence
Alongside efforts to expand Israel's own independent defense production base, the ministry stated that "the air and maritime transport operation serves as a critical component in maintaining the operational continuity of the defense system, replenishing full stockpiles for emergencies, and ensuring rapid and precise responses to the needs of combat units in various theaters."
Baram declared that the ministry over the past two years "has led a tremendous effort to ensure the supply of weapons, equipment, technology, and everything required to enable the IDF to fight and prevail. The 1,000th aircraft that landed today represents another crucial link in the strategic supply chain for the State of Israel."
He said it was critical to pursue "two parallel tracks: on one hand, strengthening Israel's defense production base to ensure manufacturing independence, and on the other hand, strengthening cooperation and political and defense relations with our allies around the world, to maintain such an airlift, both in routine and emergencies, and to further strengthen the IDF's capabilities."
Many in Israel have called on Israel to go beyond that balance to achieving almost complete weapons independence given the uncertainty of the future of US support for Israeli weapons and warfighting, but a number of top defense officials say that this can only be accomplished in areas such as standard munitions production, whereas in other araes like producing the F-35 aircraft, the Jewish state will remain dependent on Washington.