Israel orders tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells from Elbit

JERUSALEM — Israel has ordered tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells through a $60 million contract with Elbit Systems amid tension on the country’s northern border.

The government and the company this week announced the deal for the M107-A3 projectiles for the Israel Defense Forces’ artillery corps. The order follows a move by the U.S. to withdraw 300,000 shells stored in the country to transfer them to Ukraine, according to a January report in The New York Times. Israel had an agreement with the U.S. under which the former could use the ammunition for military campaigns.

In July, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine was firing thousands of shells each day. The worldwide industrial base supporting Ukraine’s efforts is struggling to keep up with demand.

Meanwhile, Israel’s northern border has seen increased tension between the IDF and Hezbollah.

Their artillery shells’ delivery is expected in 2024, the ministry said.

“The agreement with Elbit Systems will strengthen the IDF for various combat scenarios and will inject hundreds of millions of shekels into local production, which will strengthen the industry with an emphasis on the periphery and preserve the capabilities of local military production,” Zeev Landau, head of the procurement administration in the ministry, said in a statement.

Udi Vered, the chief executive of Elbit’s land division, said “the expansion and upgrading of our infrastructures enable the production at an increased rate.”

Elbit Systems has made artillery and tank shells for decades. After acquiring IMI Systems in 2018 for $495 million, Elbit became the exclusive supplier of shells for the Israeli Defense Ministry.

The head of the ammunition business unit within Elbit’s land division told Defense News on Thursday the A3 shell variant increases the weapon’s performance and can reach longer ranges than the generic M107.

“Our shells are supplied with unique, unified modular charges, which allows logistic simplicity, lower barrel wear, increased firepower and full adaptability to modern automatic loaders,” the company official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.

耶路撒冷——由于以色列北部边境局势紧张，以色列通过与埃尔比特系统公司签订了一份价值 6000 万美元的合同，订购了数万枚 155 毫米炮弹。

本周，以色列政府和相关公司宣布了为以色列国防军炮兵部队采购M107-A3型炮弹的交易。据《纽约时报》1月份报道，此前美国曾计划将储存在以色列的30万枚炮弹转移至乌克兰。以色列此前与美国达成协议，允许以色列在军事行动中使用这些弹药。

7月，北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格表示，乌克兰每天发射数千枚炮弹。支持乌克兰军事行动的全球工业基础正努力满足这一需求。

与此同时，以色列北部边境地区以色列国防军与真主党之间的紧张局势加剧。

该部表示，预计他们的炮弹将于 2024 年交付。

“与埃尔比特系统公司的协议将增强以色列国防军在各种作战场景下的能力，并将数亿谢克尔注入当地生产，这将加强以周边地区为重点的工业，并保持当地军事生产能力，”国防部采购管理部门负责人泽夫·兰道在一份声明中表示。

Elbit 土地部门首席执行官 Udi Vered 表示，“我们基础设施的扩建和升级使生产速度得以提高。”

埃尔比特系统公司生产炮弹和坦克炮弹已有数十年历史。2018年，埃尔比特以4.95亿美元收购了IMI系统公司，成为以色列国防部的独家炮弹供应商。

埃尔比特陆地部门弹药业务部门负责人周四告诉《防务新闻》，A3 炮弹变种提高了武器的性能，射程比普通的 M107 更远。

“我们的炮弹配备了独特的统一模块化装药，这使得后勤保障更加简便，炮管磨损更小，火力更强，并且能够完全适应现代自动装弹机，”该公司官员表示，他因安全原因要求匿名。

扎利·格林伯格是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。他拥有丰富的经济事务以及国防和网络安全公司报道经验。