The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced the award of a 10-year, $340 million (1.5 billion shekel) contract to Haifa-based Elbit Systems Ltd. on Thursday to build and operate a state-of-the-art munitions factory.
The contract is of strategic importance for the Jewish state’s military autonomy in the face of slowdowns and stoppages of arms exports from Western countries to Israel.
The Biden administration has been slowing down the export of certain munitions to Israel, and other Western countries, such as Canada, announced that they are stopping the sale of arms to Israel altogether, with Britain about to follow suit.
The Defense Ministry said the contract is meant “to ensure a steady supply of critical materials for the IDF’s strength and longevity during ongoing and future operations.”
Elbit Systems president and CEO Bezhalel Machlis said, “We continue to expand our production infrastructure and capabilities to support our customers. I thank the IMOD for the trust placed in our management and employees. Elbit Systems continues to develop, manufacture and deliver top-tier technological solutions and products that are combat-proven to our customers in Israel and worldwide.”
This is the second such contract that Elbit has won over the past week. The company announced Monday that it had won a two-year, $190 million contract to supply Iron Sting laser-guided and GPS-guided mortar bombs to the Ministry of Defense.
Iron Sting is a guided mortar bomb, precise to a range of up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and fired from a 120-mm mortar.