Peak defense exports in 2021, ahead of Ukraine: $ 11.3 billion

by time news

The German interest in the Arrow-3 system as a defense against Russian ballistic missiles is gaining momentum, and in recent weeks has become initial official talks on the subject between Jerusalem and Berlin. Such a deal may be one of the most prominent in defense exports of 2022, which the Ministry of Defense estimates will set a new record.

Read more in Calcalist:

This morning (Tuesday), the Ministry of Defense reveals the data on Israel’s defense exports in 2021, even before the effects of the war in Ukraine, which set an all-time record: $ 11.3 billion, a jump of 33% compared to 2020 (about $ 8.5 billion) and 20% compared to The previous record set in 2017 was $ 9.4 billion.

Among others, Elbit, IAI, Rafael and the other defense industries sold $ 800 million worth of products and services to Morocco, Bahrain and the Emirates, illustrating the economic benefit to the Israeli defense industries from the Avraham agreements. The amount does not include the deal for the sale of the Barak-8 air defense system to Morocco, worth $ 560 million, which will be recognized in the results of 2022. Yair Koles, head of the Ministry of Defense’s export agency Billion dollars.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that “the war between Russia and Ukraine proves once again to the world what ours has always been clear, that security is a national need for every country and not a luxury. Business we benefit from it, but geopolitically war is a sad and bad thing.”

Most of the exports came from the fields of missiles, rockets and air defense systems (20%), among other things following the sale of Rafael’s Spider system to the Czech Republic for $ 630 million, training and instruction services (15%), largely thanks to the huge deal between Elbit and the Greek Ministry of Defense. The local Air Force flight book at $ 1.5 billion for twenty years, UAV and glider systems (9%), electronic radar and warfare systems (9%) and manned aircraft and avionics (9%). Cyber ​​sales and intelligence systems accounted for only 4% of defense exports.

Coles explained that “there are three global conflicts that fuel the demand for Israeli systems: China-United States, Sunnis and Shiites and Russia with NATO countries. Israel retains its place among the ten largest defense exporters in the world, and we estimate that in 2022 we will rise from eighth to fifth or sixth place. Contrary to our initial assessment, the global corona crisis is not leading to a decline in defense budgets. ”

Europe, which in the past had few arms purchases from Israel for political reasons and a preference for a local result, climbed last year to first place in the geographical distribution of defense procurement from Israel, with 41% of exports, ahead of Asia and the Pacific, which include the large Indian market, with 34%. The United States accounts for 12% of defense exports, ahead of the Abrahamic Accords (7%), Africa (3%) and Latin America (3%).

This year also saw the share of transactions made through agreements between countries and not between Israeli industries and end customers, the so-called G to G transactions, which rose from $ 900 million to $ 3.4 billion. Despite this, the defense industries claim that the Ministry of Defense is slow in issuing export permits, especially to the Gulf countries, and that foreign countries that have sought to purchase Israeli systems are often forced to purchase parallel systems from other countries, which are more available to them.

You may also like

Leave a Comment