State owned weapons tech company Tomer gets off to flying start

Tomer was set up in 2018 by the Ministry of Defense to avoid sensitive technology passing into private hands.

JUNE 8, 2020 23:36

Ofek 10 satellite (photo credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY) — Ofek 10 satellite

(photo credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)

While Israel is known as the start-up nation for good reasons, one fledgling tech company stands out from the crowd: unlike most entrepreneurial ventures which must fight for their place in the market, Tomer is almost guaranteed to be a success as it is owned by the Israeli government.

According to Calcalist Tech, the company was set up in 2018 ahead of the planned privatisation of the state-owned arms manufacturer IMI (Israeli Military Industries) Systems Ltd as the Ministry of Defense feared that it would be sold to foreign investors along with classified tech. To get around this potential security breach the government set up Tomer, safeguarding the sensitive technologies outside of the privatisation package.

Not only did it achieve this aim, but the company has been a success in business terms - according to information seen by Calcalist, Tomer ended 2019, its first full year of trading, with sales of NIS 330 million ($94 million), giving the company a NIS 10 million profit ($2.85 million), while standing orders are currently valued at NIS 750 million ($214 million).

The ministry of defense has also approved a budget of $290 million for the refurbishment of manufacturing and developmental equipment employed by Tomer.

In the event, IMI ended up being purchased by the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems Ltd, which has gone on to contract Tomer as a supplier, as has Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. Elbit's artillery and aerial rockets are manufactured by Tomer, as are the long-range Arrow missile, and the first and second stages of Israel's satellite launcher Shavit, which is used to deliver the IDF's spy satellites into orbit.

Setting up the Tomer as a state-owned company rather than bringing it within the ministry of defense as a subdivision has allowed the state to sell rocket launchers to private companies, rather than only being used for Israeli defense purposes. So far the company has not sold directly abroad, although aspects of its tech has been traded through others, such as the engines of rockets sold by Elbit abroad.

However, Tomer is currently in talks with companies in Japan and the US, negotiating direct sales of rocket engines, according to Calcalist .

Tomer, which employs 540 people, many of whom are physicists and chemists, is now working on improving the Shavit launcher, improving the design so that it can carry heavier payloads into space, enabling improved satellites with higher resolution cameras and better quality radar to be launched. Shavit is, according to Calcalist, based on the Jericho ballistic missiles which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and can currently carry the Ofek satellites, weighing around 350 kilograms.

The company is also researching hypersonic speeds both within and outside of the atmosphere. Modern defense systems have a weak spot in the form of hypersonic missiles, of which Russia is said to have a system in place, while the US is working on developing its own.

"We achieved all our work plans in our first year," said Tomer CEO, Mordechai Ben-Ami. "Even during the times of the coronavirus (Covid-19) the company reorganised in a very short time frame to work in shifts while maintaining social distancing and all the regulations."