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Israeli MoD orders locally produced bombs

By Jeremy Binnie |

An Israeli bomb fitted with a Rafael Spice guidance kit shortly before it hit an apartment building in southern Beirut on 22 October 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

The Israeli Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced on 7 January that it had placed a contract with Elbit Systems for “heavy air munitions” that it did not identify, to decrease its dependency on foreign supplies.

The MoD said the contract was one of two it had signed with Elbit that totalled to approximately ILS1 billion (USD 276 million), with the second covering the establishment of a “national raw materials plant” that will produce materials previously sourced mainly from foreign countries. “The new facility will have advanced production lines for energetic materials that Israel's defence industry uses,” it said.

“Today we are laying the foundations for expanding manufacturing independence in two critical areas for the [Israel Defense Forces'] IDF's operational sustainability,” the statement quoted the MoD Director General, Major General (res) Eyal Zamir (retd) as saying. “Both agreements will ensure sovereign capability in producing bombs and munitions of all types… Under both agreements, initial capabilities will soon gradually expand until we achieve full independence in both areas. This is a central lesson from the war [that began on 7 October 2023] that will enable the IDF to continue operating powerfully in all theatres.”

For more information, please seeIsraeli MoD looks to increase local defence production .

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