Israeli arms maker Elbit inks international deals worth over $150 million

Weapons company announces contracts to sell artillery munition to an Asia-Pacific country and tank shells to Sweden

By Luke Tress 29 March 2022, 10:57 am Edit

Luke Tress is an editor and a reporter in New York for The Times of Israel.

Israeli weapons maker Elbit Systems inked two international deals worth over $150 million in the past week.

Elbit said on Sunday it had been awarded $130 million in contracts to provide artillery munitions to an unnamed country in the Asia-Pacific region.

The contract will be carried out over a period of two and a half years and will include building an industrial complex to produce the munitions, Elbit said.

Last week, Elbit said it had secured a $27 million contract to provide Sweden with tank ammunition.

Elbit will supply the Swedish Armed Forces with M339 120mm tank shells for the army’s Leopard battle tanks. The contract will be carried out over 10 months.

The M339 rounds are compliant with NATO and US military specifications, Elbit said. In 2020, Elbit sold the munition to the Finnish military.

Elbit is the manufacturer of the Hermes armed drone and cutting-edge surveillance technology, among other products.

Elbit publicly trades on the NASDAQ in the US, as well as on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Its US share price has been climbing since the summer after remaining largely flat for years.

The war in Ukraine appears to have given the company’s stock an additional boost, as its share price jumped close to 40 percent since mid-February. Countries in Europe, including economic powerhouse Germany, have decided to update their armed forces and increase military spending since Russia’s invasion.

Elbit’s US market cap is around $10.5 billion and its share price is up over 70% in the past year.

The company has signed a number of major deals in the Asia-Pacific region in the recent years.

Elbit presented at Singapore’s famed weapons expo earlier this year, along with other Israeli defense companies.

Last year, Elbit launched a new venture in the United Arab Emirates, called Elbit Systems Emirates, that it said “will seek to foster a long-term cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces.”

Anti-Israel activists have targeted Elbit facilities outside Israel in recent years, especially since Israel’s May 2021 conflict with the Hamas terror group in Gaza.