Israel moves to strengthen defense production amid boycott calls

JERUSALEM — Israel has reached an agreement with Elbit Systems on an NIS 815 million — approximately $215 million in U.S. currency — contract to supply the country’s military with 120mm “Iron Sting” mortars, the Israeli Ministry of Defense and Elbit Systems announced Monday.

The mortar munitions are already in use by the IDF’s ground forces in the ongoing “Iron Swords” war in Gaza and along its northern border against the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, respectively.

Israel’s agreement with the Haifa-based Elbit Systems comes as part of a push to strengthen production independence, the Israeli Ministry of Defense noted.

Incentivizing this effort are public calls to boycott the sale of ammunition and ammunition parts to Israel due to its war in Gaza. The new contract also follows a delay of ammunition shipments to Israel from the U.S. coinciding with Israel’s entry into Rafah.

The Iron Sting munition is a precision-guided 120mm mortar designed to accurately target and destroy objectives, using both immune GPS and laser guidance technology.

The munition has a range of up to 10 kilometers — or, 6.2 miles — and has an estimated loading time of approximately 15 seconds. It features a multi-mode fuze with point detonation, point detonation delay and proximity sensor operating modes.

“In response to the outbreak of war, the IMoD Directorate of Defense Procurement has accelerated the acquisition of cutting-edge armaments,” the Israeli Defense Ministry stated.

On Oct. 7, the Gaza-based militant group Hamas launched a fatal attack on Israel and took people hostage, with the Israeli government in turn launching a war against the organization in the southern territory.