The U.S. military has announced the sale of billions of dollars of missiles, bombs, and other weapons to Israel in the past year, as the campaign on Gaza grinds on. Now, the Department of Defense is also building aircraft facilities in Israel to accommodate American-made refueling tanker planes, according to newly issued public contracting documents reviewed by The Intercept.
The project includes new construction and upgrades of existing buildings, including one or more hangars, warehouses, and storage facilities, at an Israeli military base in the south of Israel, according to Army Corps of Engineers documents.
The construction stems from a nearly $1 billion contract, awarded to defense giant Boeing in 2022, to provide Israel with four KC-46A tanker aircraft to be delivered by the end of 2026. The purchase of the KC-46As was seen as a signal of Israel’s determination to increase its capacity to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The KC-46A is the newest tanker being produced for the United States Air Force to replace its two aging models. The new aircraft has been plagued with myriad problems, including issues with its Remote Vision System, which allows the boom operator to see the boom through a video feed. The plane has also become a financial burden, racking up more than $7 billion in losses.
For Israel, the new aircraft, purchased for $927 million, will replace the decades-old, repurposed Boeing 707 passenger planes that the Israeli Air Force currently uses for mid-air refueling of fighter aircraft.
Last month, the Biden administration approved five major arms sales to Israel, including 50 F-15 fighter aircraft, tank ammunition, tactical vehicles, air-to-air missiles, and 50,000 mortar rounds, among other equipment totaling more than $20 billion. While technically “sales,” the cost of these weapons is mostly paid by the United States since Israel uses much of the military aid Congress approves to buy U.S.-made weapons.
Since last October, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have spawned a humanitarian catastrophe, killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and wounded close to 94,000 according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel has used U.S. munitions in its strikes on Gaza.
The KC-46A construction project, according to documents issued on Wednesday, includes “establishing and adapting aviation and maintenance infrastructure for the KC-46,” including construction of five new concrete and steel structures, as well as the possibility for building additional buildings and warehouses.
The Pentagon is no stranger to construction projects in Israel. Late last year, The Intercept revealed that the Defense Department had awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to build U.S. troop facilities for a secret base it maintains deep within Israel’s Negev desert, just 20 miles from Gaza. Code-named “Site 512,” the longstanding U.S. base is a radar facility that monitors the skies for missile attacks on Israel.
A recent investigation by The Intercept disclosed that Site 512 is just one of more than 60 U.S. bases, garrisons, or shared foreign facilities in the Middle East. These sites range from small combat outposts to massive air bases in 13 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
At least 14 of these bases have been attacked in recent years. Since October 17 of last year alone, a mix of one-way attack drones, rockets, mortars, and close-range ballistic missiles have led to at least 145 U.S. casualties — troops and contractors — at regional outposts. That includes three service members killed in a January drone attack on Tower 22, a facility in Jordan.
The Defense Department intends to award contracts for work on the KC-46A construction project in February 2025. The Pentagon failed to respond to The Intercept’s request for comment about the construction project. The State Department acknowledged The Intercept’s questions but did not offer answers prior to publication.