Israel exported 5.7 billion dollars of defense products in 2015
The figure for 2015 represents a small rise from that of 2014, when Israel exported 5.6 billion dollars of defense products.
By YAAKOV LAPPINUpdated: APRIL 7, 2016 04:40Israel Aerospace Industries Heron drone (photo credit: IAI)
Israeli defense industries exported some $5.7b. worth of defense products in 2015, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday, describing the figure as stable compared to recent years.Michael Ben-Baruch, head of the Defense Ministry’s Sibat (Defense Export Organization) department, said, “We are proud of the Israeli defense industry for its achievements in the global defense export market. After a challenging year, we succeeded, through joint and determined work, to maintain stability in the scope of signed contracts.”The figure for 2015 represents a small rise from that of 2014, when Israel exported $5.6b. worth of defense products.According to Sibat, throughout 2015, Israeli defense companies and the Defense Ministry signed dozens of “significant contracts that stemmed the decrease [of sales] and stabilized the scope of defense exports.” Ben-Ben-Baruch added that, “thanks to Israeli defense industries, we are bringing technological innovation to Israel in general, and to the IDF specifically.”Israel is ranked among the 10 largest defense exporters in the world. Sibat said its products are “suited to the changing security reality around the world: asymmetric warfare, the rise of precision weaponry, the use of quality intelligence collection in real-time, and minimizing harm to noncombatants.”Enhancing planes and aerial platforms, ammunition and weapons stations, radars and electronic warfare systems, drones, and observation and optronics formed the largest chunks of the sales.The Asia-Pacific was the area that purchased the highest portion of Israeli defense products – $2.3b. worth – followed by Europe ($1.6b.), North America (a little over $1b.), Latin America ($577 million) and Africa ($163m.)”