The German military continues its large-scale defense procurement in Israel, choosing Elbit Systems’ PULS rocket artillery system after a close battle with its American rival, Defense News reported this week.
According to reports, the German parliament approved the first round of procurement for artillery systems worth 65 million euros, with Elbit beating out joint bidders Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall. Elbit’s bid will be jointly submitted with French-German contractor KNDS, which will be responsible for delivering the artillery systems and ammunition.
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A German defense ministry spokesperson told the website that the U.S. and German bids were “not progressing sufficiently” and that “no usable prototypes were available” for the GMARS system. In addition, the Dutch and Danish armies have already procured Elvit artillery systems, which will enable future cooperation.
“The Dutch military is deeply integrated into the German military structure and the use of common weapons systems will enable further cooperation,” the spokesperson told Defense News. The website reported that in addition to the system itself, Germany needs US approval to use domestic weapons (GMLRS) within the Israeli system, which is expected to be granted. . The United States previously approved Germany to become the world’s first customer for the Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense system.
“Germany is working closely with the United States on this issue,” the Defense Ministry’s latest statement said. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin’s CEO told the website in the summer that such an option was “not on the table at all.”
Israeli defense officials say that over the past two years, due to countries “donating” their existing artillery rockets to Ukraine for the war against Russian aggression, and because of Ukraine’s need to strengthen its military, He explains that there was fierce competition in this field in Europe. There are concerns about Russia’s invasion of NATO countries.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on January 7, 2025.
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