“Before I took office,” IAI chairman Harel Locker said at a recent conference, “(I) realized that if the company did not change, it could collapse within a few years.”

Israel largely abandoned lasers 12 years ago, but “there is a growing number of experts that understand the mistake that was made,” a senior Israeli source told Breaking Defense. “(We’re) ready to restart development with the more advanced building blocks available today.”

TEL AVIV: Complex export rules make it much easier to sell a high-tech weapons system labeled “Made In The USA” than one marked “Made In Israel.” So it’s significant that last week, the US subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Mississippi-based Stark Aerospace, ceremoniously delivered the first US-built canister for IAI’s Arrow-3 missile defense interceptor. While… Keep reading →

TEL AVIV: Exclusive clubs tend to hide behind closed doors. The Five Eyes is the most exclusive club — one whose door is closed to Israeli companies trying to sell their systems to European countries any time an American company is in the competition, Israeli sources say. For example, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has been… Keep reading →

It began in low voices behind closed doors but some days ago the battle for US military aid turned to open war. The first skirmish is being fought over the Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) advanced aerial refueling aircraft meant to replace its aging converted Boeing 707s.

TEL AVIV: Faced with a growing missile threat, Israel will add $8 billion to improve its active and passive missile defense systems. This in addition to the money already allocated for this by the Israeli government and the U.S administration. Israeli sources said July 24 that the additional funds reflect the “growing threat” based on… Keep reading →

While we can’t confirm that Israel used ground-to-ground missiles against Syria, a few months ago the IDF established a new unit — on the orders of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman —  to operate Israeli-developed ground- ground missiles.

After years of subsidizing the Israeli defense industry, the US is now insisting Tel Aviv spend all the military aid it gets from America on American companies. The Israeli government and hundreds of Israeli companies are scrambling to adjust, with one estimate predicting 20,000 layoffs.

For a while, Turkey and Israel were the unexpected couple, the increasingly Muslim state buying the Jewish state’s weapons and Israel offering Turkey a potentially strategic gas and oil pipeline. Today, Israel is reaching out to NATO and Turkish-Israeli relations are increasingly tense.

A visit to Israel’s increasingly tense border with Syria makes clear that the ground units of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are building their own “air force.” The clear benefits of tactical drones have driven the ground forces to deploy more and more aircraft and this has reached the status of a real revolution.