"War Machine": The Haunting Testimony of Apache Pilots from October 7
Israeli Apache helicopter pilots reveal their firsthand accounts of the October 7 attacks, detailing aerial combat, chaos, and split-second decisions in a new book "War Machine.
Twitter
For the first time, Israeli Apache pilots are publicly sharing their testimonies from October 7, detailing the chaos in the skies above the Gaza envelope, the ground battles in Gaza and Lebanon, and the interception of Iranian drones. Their stories appear in a new book by journalist and author Meirav Halperin, “War Machine,” released this week by Yedioth Books.
What was originally planned as a historical chronicle of Israel’s combat helicopter corps, from the First Lebanon War until its expected closure for budgetary reasons, transformed into a frontline testimony of Black Saturday. Instead of being dismantled, the corps is now slated to expand.
“We fought our own war”
Dozens of active and reserve pilots contributed first-hand accounts to the book. They describe confusion and frustration as they realized no central command was directing them on October 7. Forced to improvise, they pieced together the battlefield picture from the air, coordinated with ground commanders by phone, and developed attack methods on the fly to avoid hitting Israeli soldiers or civilians.
“They’re at the gate,” one pilot recalls hearing over the radio. “We arrived over the division when a shoulder-fired missile was launched at us, very close. Then another. We managed to evade both, and then a third came. I told the formation, ‘The border has moved. From now on, the border is Re’im.’ Every missile I fired came with fear, maybe I was hitting our own.”
The pilots recount striking hundreds of Hamas gunmen, blocking additional infiltration waves, and securing helicopter landings to deliver reinforcements and evacuate wounded troops.
A rare record of cockpit voices
Halperin, known for her military reporting, weaves together dozens of testimonies into what she calls a “mosaic of cockpit voices.” The book presents not only the operational details but also the personal struggles of the pilots: their pain, dilemmas, and the sense of isolation as they fought a war within a war.
“War Machine” marks Halperin’s 11th book and her most personal yet. After decades documenting IDF wars, operations, and special units, she captures the moment Israel’s helicopter corps and the course of the war itself changed forever.