UK
Arms Production for Israel in the UK
Since 2008, the UK has licensed the export of arms worth £560 million to Israel. This does not capture the full scale of UK military exports to Israel as many arms export licenses to Israel are “open” and there is no cap on the number of licensed exports or their value; and many licences are for the USA, for incorporation into bigger weapons systems for onward export to Israel. The most traceable exports from the UK to Israel are components for the F35 fighter jet and the F16 – both of which are used by the IOF in Gaza.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
15 per cent of each F-35 is built in the UK. Exports of components for the F-35 programme are covered by an open licence from the UK government, meaning very little of this component supply is included in the £560m figure above. The main UK company involved is BAE Systems. BAE produces 13-15 per cent of each F-35 across its UK and US operations. Some of the firms and manufacturing sites for the F35 in the UK are the following:
- The rear fuselage of every F-35 fighter is made by BAE Systems at Samlesbury Aerodrome, Lancashire.
- The “active interceptor system” is made by BAE Systems in Rochester, Kent. There is a steady stream of components for F35s and Israel’s F16s from this site.
- “Durability testing” for the F35 is undertaken at the BAE structural testing facility in East Yorkshire.
- Martin-Baker make the ejector seat in the UK; their headquarters is in Higher Denham, Buckinghamshire.
- Cobham Mission Systems made the refuelling probe for the F35; Cobham Mission Systems was sold to Eaton in 2021 and is hosted at Mission Systems Wimborne Ltd.
- Leonardo make the laser targeting system for the F35 in Edinburgh.
- Dunlop Aircraft Tyres make the aircraft tyres in Birmingham
In November 2023 the UK Department for Business and Trade released a list of the 79 companies currently registered on a UK government open licence for exports in support of the F-35 programme. For an annotated version of that list, including what each company makes and where it is based (organised by region), click here.
Munitions made for the IOF in the UK
- Raytheon makes the Paveway II Guided Missile for Israel in the US. Raytheon also makes the Paveway IV in Glenrothes. While there are no export licenses for the Paveway IV to Israel from the UK, they are assembled in the US so the supply chain is unclear. Further, there could be common components made in the UK and the same multinational company has responsibility.
- The MLRS M270 rocket launcher - used inside the Gaza Strip for the first time since 2006 - is made by Lockheed Martin. It is built in Europe by an international consortium of companies from France, Germany, Italy and UK. In Germany, Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann (MKW) has signed an MoU with Elbit subsidiaries to modernise the MLRS.
Companies with UK arms export licenses to Israel
Various companies have held arms export licenses from the UK to Israel since 2008. Some of the license holders are:
- Teledyne Defence and Space, Shipley, Yorkshire. Teledyne manufacture components for air, land, sea and space radar equipment, including for the F35. Their defence and space subsidiary has one manufacturing plant in Shipley and has sales representatives (Ormic Components) based in Israel. Since 2018, its parent company Teledyne Technologies has applied for 134 export licenses from the UK to Israel.
- NB: we have not been able to trace the direct supply chains to Israeli military equipment and Palestine Action activists were prosecuted after targeting a different subsidiary in Wales (Teledyne Labtech).
- Teledyne, e2v (sales office and HQ Chelmsford and microwave electronics facility in Lincoln, UK). Originally a defence electronics company, e2v was sold to Teledyne in 2017. Although the firm has applied for 124 UK arms export licenses to Israel since 2008, this may have been in its previous incarnation as e2v and it is not clear which countries it uses to produce military technology at present.
- Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence company with subsidiaries in the UK and US has had arms export licenses issued from the UK including for: military communications components; military communications equipment; military communications equipment software, body armour and military electronic equipment. The UK subsidiary of the firm has a new R&D facility in Bristol. Although Elbit Systems exports from the UK to Israel, much of its production in the UK is focused around contracts with the British armed forces.
- The Elbit site in the UK most connected to goods used by the IOF is run by its subsidiary Instro Precision Ltd in Sandwich, Kent. Instro Precision Ltd make targeting equipment for troops and vehicles and hold export licenses to Israel – this equipment is likely used in Israel’s ground operations. This is ausefuel resource to finding companies which cooperate with Ebit Systems in the UK,
Resources and links on UK military production for Israel
Germany
Major weapons
Germany is Israel’s second biggest foreign supplier of major conventional weapons (MCW). Over the period 2013-22, they supplied 27.6% of the MCW imported by Israel.
Military equipment supplied to Israel by Germany has mostly consisted of submarines; warships; engines for land vehicles, naval vehicles and aircraft that are assembled in Israel or the US, and torpedoes for the submarines. In many cases, the German government pays for around a third of the cost of these sales as military aid. Supplying arms to Israel is considered by Germany to be a core foreign policy interest.
Major equipment recently delivered, or currently on order, include:
- MT883Ka engines for Israel’s Merkava tanks and Namer armoured vehicles. These are assembled in the US from components made in Germany by Rolls-Royce Power Systems (formerly MTU, who designed the engine) in Friedrichshafen. The contract was agreed in 2000 and SIPRI estimate that 1060 engines have been delivered between 2002 and 2022.
- Saar-6 corvettes (warships) based on the German K130 Braunschweig class, with some component production and final fitting out in Israel. Two out of a total order of four were delivered in 2022. The order was placed in 2015 and was worth €430m, of which the German government paid €115m as military aid. The ships are produced at ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems’ (TKMS) shipyard in Kiel.
- Anti-ship torpedoes for Israel’s (German-made) Dolphin-class submarines. SIPRI estimate that 110 had been delivered by 2022, from an order for an estimated 150 in 2014. They are made by Atlas Elektronik. The Dolphin submarines were made by HDW (now part of TKMS) in Kiel.
- Three Dakar class diesel-electric submarines ordered in 2022 in a €3b deal partly funded by German military aid. Delivery is planned starting 2031. They are being built by TKMS in Kiel.
Export licences
- Germany issued arms export licences for Israel worth €32 million in 2022, compared to €88m in 2021. However, in the 10-year period 2013-22 they issued licences worth £2.5 billion, according to their official annual reports. More recent information shows that by the beginning of November 2023, Germany had already issued licences worth €303m. 85% of Germany’s 218 arms export licenses to Israel so far in 2023 were issued after the start of the current war on October 7th.
- According to Germany’s full report on arms export controls for 2021 (the 2022 report has not yet been published) 85% of the value of export licences issued for Israel in 2021 was for components for armoured vehicles and main battle tanks. In 2020, 90% of the much larger £583 million round of licences issued was for corvettes as well as engines and other parts for submarines.
F-35 supply chain
Germany has only recently become a customer for the F-35. Only one German company has been clearly identified as an F-35 supplier – Otto Fuchs KG in Meinerzhagen – which produces titanium dye forgings and leading edge spars for the F-35.
Italy
Arms Production for Israel in Italy
In 2021, Italy approved arms export licenses worth 12.5 million euros to Israel. These included 7.1 million euros of licenses for goods in the category ML10 ("Aircraft", "lighter-than-air vehicles", "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" ("UAVs"), aero-engines and "aircraft" equipment).
F35 supply chains in Italy
Italy is a key partner in the F35 coalition. The F35 supply chain can be traced to the following sites and the partly state-owned company Leonardo:
- Leonardo produces composites and metal structures for the F35 at plants in Foggia, Nola and Venegono.
- The Leonardo Aircraft Division produces wings for the F35 at a plant in Cameri. Components from Italy are in every F35, but not all the wings are produced in Italy.
Increased links between Leonardo and the Israeli military industry:
- In February 2023, Leonardo announced partnerships with the Israeli Innovation Authority and Ramot, a Technology Transfer Company at Tel Aviv University to co-develop new projects. In November 2022, Leonardo DRS (a US based subsidiary) announced a merger with RADA Electronic Industries, an Israeli company that specialises in radar technology. The new combined company is a subsidiary of Leonardo.
SPAIN
Arms Production for Israel in Spain.
In
2021, Spain authorised 55 arms export licenses to Israel – worth 13
million euros. This included 9.8 million euros of licenses for goods in
the category ML5 – fire control, surveillance and warning equipment. In
2020, Spain authorised 17.7 million euros of licenses – 9 million euro
of these in ML10 and 8 million euro ML5.
Research on
the connection between the Spanish arms industry and Israel focuses
more on imports from Israel rather than exports as the Spanish industry
is smaller and less developed than that of Israel.
Belgium
Arms Production for Israel in Belgium.
In 2021, Belgium licensed 19.8 million euros of arms exports to Israel in category ML8 (energetic materials).
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