Israel’s Largest Weapons Contractor Could Score Huge U.S. Army Weapons Deal
Trump’s Pentagon may cut a massive deal with Elbit, an Israeli company accused of helping carry out its genocide in Gaza, amid Republicans’ push to fuse the U.S. and Israeli militaries together.
Israel’s largest weapons contractor, Elbit Systems, has reportedly helped carry out its genocide in Gaza, consequently attracting protests around the world. And now, per a source familiar with the matter, the company is a top contender for a massive U.S. army contract.
The U.S. subsidiary of Elbit is collaborating with the AI drone company Anduril as it appeals to Donald Trump’s Pentagon for the contract. That relationship could prove fruitful, as Trump’s own son and his son-in-law’s family each have an interest in the drone company.
Elbit America and Anduril are competing together for a U.S. army contract seeking producers for its long-awaited program to modernize its fleet of self-propelled howitzers (tank-like vehicles used for long-range fire). Anduril has said it will incorporate its AI-driven software platform into the team’s proposed system. The army aims to award the contract by July; the army hasn’t announced a full timeline yet, but development and production for a fleet of howitzers would last years.
It would be significant for Elbit to secure the howitzer contract, former State Department official Josh Paul told Zeteo, saying there is hardly precedent for the U.S. sourcing weapons from an Israeli outfit at such a scale. “I can’t think of another Israeli co-produced system that is by itself a major defense acquisition program,” he said, adding that the Army “would be dependent on the system for a generation to come.”