World’s largest cargo plane lands in Israel to defend American troops stationed in battlefields abroad

Beautiful news.

World’s largest cargo plane lands in Israel to load Iron Dome batteries

Massive aircraft carrying U.S. military freight trucks touches ground and will transport defense system from Israel to defend American troops stationed in battlefields abroad

i24NEWS | YNET News, August 19, 2020:

The world’s largest cargo plane landed in Ben Gurion Airport, carrying U.S. military ‘Osh Kosh’ trucks that were fitted with Iron Dome missile defense system batteries purchased by the U.S. Army before leaving Israel, the Defense Ministry announced on Monday.

In August 2019, The ministry had signed a $373 million deal with the U.S. Defense Department to sell two off-the-shelf Iron Dome batteries to the American Army from Rafael which include 12 launchers, two sensors, two battlement management centers, and 240 interceptors.
מטוס האנטונוב
The system, developed by the ministry and prime contractor Rafael “will be used to defend U.S. military troops against a wide range of ballistic and aerial threats,” a Defense Ministry statement said.
The unloading of the Russian-made Antonov cargo plane was closed to the press.
This is the mammoth aircraft’s second trip to Israel after it touched ground on the Holy Land in 2008.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was created in the 1980s in Soviet Ukraine and is the heaviest aircraft ever built.

עשור לכיפת ברזל
An Iron Dome defense system intercepting a rocket
(Photo: Defense Ministry)
Advertisement
The AN-225 has over 30 wheels, six engines and a wingspan of 290ft. The aircraft has a range of 15,400 km when unloaded and 4,500 when fully loaded.