Israeli defense firms see opportunities to rearm Europe

JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has been on the fence about supporting Ukraine with weapons, but defense companies here are eager to pounce on sales opportunities in Europe to restock inventories depleted by donations to Kyiv.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a major increase in defense spending and procurement across Europe. Western countries seek to balance the needs of aiding Ukraine with resupplying their own stockpiles of munitions and buying new systems to prepare for future conflicts.

For Israel’s big three defense contractors — Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems — this represents a potential boon. In mid-April, for example, Israel’s Defense Ministry said Germany was in advanced negotiations to acquire Israel’s Arrow 3 air defense system. Finland is also acquiring the David’s Sling missile defense system, and Greece has announced a deal to acquire Spike missiles and drones .

The three companies each already have a presence in Europe. Some have local subsidiaries or agreements with European defense companies, or unique European footprints, such as Rafael’s EuroSpike program. That means they are in a position to quickly react to new procurement plans.

For Niv Cohen, who leads Rafael’s land maneuver systems business, the war in Ukraine has emphasized a need for land warfare equipment in particular.

“The conflict has highlighted the principles of land maneuvering and holding territory conquered during battle,” he said. “This understanding of operational requirements has led to countries in Europe and around the world to develop serious plans for purchase and procurement of fighting vehicles, especially tanks.”

Cohen also pointed to the related market of protective equipment to complement those vehicle fleets.

Rafael hopes those market dynamics bode well for its Trophy active protection system. The U.S. and Germany have already acquired the Trophy for their Abrams and Leopard tanks , respectively. The system has been operational in Israel since 2011, and Cohen said it has received upgrades since to meet changing threats.

The company established EuroTrophy last year as a Europe-based company in partnership with Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Spain-based General Dynamics European Land Systems.

With the interest in active protection systems growing in Europe, Rafael has transferred the supply chain for its EuroTrophy and EuroSpike programs to the continent.

“Given the difficulties in the global supply chain, our local manufacturing capabilities provide flexibility, efficiency and a streamlined process to help avoid the obstacles we identify here in Israel or in any arena,” Cohen said.

Ran Kril, Elbit’s executive vice president for international marketing and business development, said a huge demand exists for artillery system munitions, protection capabilities and electronic warfare weaponry.

The company’s acquisition of IMI in 2018 added new munitions as well as artillery and rocket systems to the company’s portfolio. Kril point to this as enabling Elbit to potentially fill orders for countries that have seen munitions shipped to and consumed by Ukraine in the war.

Elbit has built a network of local offshoots across Europe, including in the U.K., Sweden, Switzerland and Germany, that are meant to boost the promise of local workshare in future sales.

“They are expanding that as we speak because we understand the increase of the budget doesn’t mean they are willing to buy from outside; they would like most of the work, and also development or maintenance. They expect to see more activities done in the country, so a strategy of establishing subsidiaries is one layer of the strategy, and this is in partnership with other companies. [It’s] a win-win for both of us for programs,” Kril said.

At IAI, CEO Boaz Levy said he hopes to bring his company into play in Europe by linking equipment across the air, space, land and sea domains of warfare.

“This is where I will connect it to Europe,” he said. “IAI now has a lot of products that are suitable for the war that is taking place in Europe and gives us a view toward the future battlespace. When you look at the war there, you will see the requirements for better situational awareness and capabilities for space that are unique to IAI.”

While Levy didn’t mention specific customers, he did point to the firm’s Barak missile as an example of a product that has seen recent success, as well as radars and loitering munitions. The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, for example have acquired the radar used with Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. Elta, a subsidiary of IAI, produces the radar.

Seth J. Frantzman is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has covered conflict in the Mideast since 2010 for different publications. He has experience covering the international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and he is a co-founder and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.

耶路撒冷——以色列政府一直对是否向乌克兰提供武器持观望态度，但以色列的国防公司渴望抓住欧洲的销售机会，以补充因向基辅捐赠而耗尽的库存。

俄罗斯入侵乌克兰导致欧洲各国大幅增加国防开支和采购。西方国家力求在援助乌克兰与补充自身弹药储备、购买新系统以应对未来冲突之间取得平衡。

对于以色列三大国防承包商——拉斐尔先进防御系统公司、以色列航空航天工业公司和埃尔比特系统公司——而言，这无疑是一笔潜在的财富。例如，4月中旬，以色列国防部表示，德国正就采购以色列的“箭-3”防空系统进行深入谈判。芬兰也在采购“大卫投石器”导弹防御系统，而希腊则宣布了一项采购“长钉”导弹和无人机的协议。

这三家公司都已在欧洲开展业务。其中一些公司设有当地子公司，或与欧洲国防公司达成合作协议，或拥有独特的欧洲布局，例如拉斐尔公司的“欧洲防务防护系统”（EuroSpike）项目。这意味着它们能够迅速应对新的采购计划。

对于拉斐尔陆地机动系统业务负责人尼夫·科恩来说，乌克兰战争尤其凸显了对陆地作战装备的需求。

他说：“这场冲突凸显了陆地机动和守住战损领土的原则。对作战需求的这种理解促使欧洲和世界各国制定了认真的计划，采购作战车辆，特别是坦克。”

科恩还指出，相关的防护设备市场也应与这些车队相辅相成。

拉斐尔公司希望这些市场动态对其“战利品”（Trophy）主动防护系统有利。美国和德国已分别为其艾布拉姆斯和豹式坦克采购了“战利品”系统。该系统自2011年起在以色列投入使用，科恩表示，此后该系统已进行过多次升级，以应对不断变化的威胁。

该公司去年与德国的 Krauss-Maffei Wegmann 和西班牙的 General Dynamics European Land Systems 合作，成立了总部位于欧洲的 EuroTrophy 公司。

随着欧洲对主动防护系统的兴趣日益增长，拉斐尔已将其 EuroTrophy 和 EuroSpike 项目的供应链转移到了欧洲大陆。

科恩表示：“鉴于全球供应链的种种困难，我们本地的制造能力提供了灵活性、效率和精简的流程，有助于避免我们在以色列或任何领域遇到的障碍。”

Elbit公司负责国际营销和业务发展的执行副总裁Ran Kril表示，市场对火炮系统弹药、防护能力和电子战武器有着巨大的需求。

该公司于2018年收购IMI，为其产品组合新增了新型弹药以及火炮和火箭系统。克里尔指出，这使得埃尔比特系统公司有可能满足那些在战争中遭受乌克兰弹药袭击的国家的订单。

Elbit 已在欧洲各地（包括英国、瑞典、瑞士和德国）建立了本地分支机构网络，旨在提升未来销售中本地工作共享的前景。

“他们正在扩大规模，因为我们明白，预算增加并不意味着他们愿意从外部采购；他们希望大部分工作，包括开发和维护工作，都能在国内完成。他们希望看到更多活动在国内开展，因此设立子公司是该战略的一个层面，而且这是与其他公司合作完成的。[这]对我们双方的项目来说都是双赢的，”克里尔说道。

IAI 首席执行官 Boaz Levy 表示，他希望通过将空中、太空、陆地和海洋作战领域的设备连接起来，使他的公司在欧洲发挥作用。

“这就是我将它与欧洲联系起来的地方，”他说。“IAI现在拥有许多适用于欧洲战争的产品，这让我们对未来的战场有了更清晰的认识。当你审视那里的战争时，你会发现它对更好的态势感知能力和太空能力的需求，而这些正是IAI独有的。”

莱维虽然没有提及具体客户，但他确实指出，该公司生产的巴拉克导弹、雷达和巡飞弹等产品近期都取得了成功。例如，捷克、斯洛伐克和匈牙利都采购了以色列“铁穹”防空系统所使用的雷达。该雷达由以色列航空工业公司（IAI）的子公司埃尔塔公司生产。

塞思·J·弗兰茨曼是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。自2010年以来，他一直为多家媒体报道中东冲突。他曾报道过打击伊拉克和叙利亚境内伊斯兰国组织的国际联盟行动，并且是中东报道与分析中心的联合创始人兼执行主任。