Israel acquires surplus CH-53 helicopters for spares

[ada quonsett]

The Israeli air force has acquired five decommissioned Sikorsky CH-53 transport helicopters from the USA to be used for spares, as part of a continuing effort to keep its aged fleet of the type flying.

Selected by air force experts, the ex-US Marine Corps aircraft were moved by truck from storage in Arizona to Houston, Texas, where they were loaded on to a cargo ship. Following their arrival in Israel in mid-February, they will be taken to the 22 maintenance unit at Tel Nof air base and cannibalised as required.

In addition to the airframes, Israel will also receive a number of engines, tail sections, rotor blades and other items that have been removed from service to support its fleet.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...d|Flightglobal

[Bager1968]

The USMC has phased out all of its CH-53A/Ds, replacing them with the 3-engine CH-53E (the USMC D-model's last combat mission was in Afghanistan during late February 2012; it was taken out of service afterward.).

Israel operates a modified version of the 2-engine CH-53D (as does Germany).

There are a lot of surplus A/D airframes in storage, so selling off some to keep an ally's fleet operating is an expected thing.