Israel has decided to start developing and locally producing heavy bombs, including an alternative to the American 2,000-pound MK-84 bomb, whose deliveries were stopped by the U.S. over concerns that Israel was using them in densely populated areas.
According to a report by Israel Hayom, the Defense Ministry aims to develop production lines for the bombs, which in peacetime will produce small numbers that can be rapidly ramped up during emergencies.
This is reportedly expected to take between two and three years.
Security sources also told the newspaper that the shipment of the heavy 2,000-pound bombs which was halted at the start of the year is still frozen but could be released soon.
In addition, the outlet revealed that the U.S. began delivering smaller MK-83 bombs which had been withheld since before the war began last October.
The U.S. has been transferring large amounts of weapons and munitions to Israel since the start of the war but slowed down deliveries as the tensions between the governments over Israel's strategy increased.
In June, Reuters reported that the U.S. had so far sent Israel at least 14,000 of the MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, and 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, among others.
The issue came to a head in June when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented, "It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition."
While the Biden administration protested, it also acknowledged that at least one shipment comprising thousands of bombs had been withheld. In addition, the U.K. was revealed to have implemented a "secret arms embargo."
Most recently, reports that Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris indicated openness to discussing an arms embargo against Israel were received with shock in Jerusalem.
In response, Israel sped up efforts to increase local production of arms during the past months.
Last week, the Defense Ministry announced it had awarded the Israeli defense company Elbit a 10-year, $340 million (NIS 1.5 billion) contract to build a state-of-the-art munitions factory, which will produce tank ammunition and 155 mm artillery shells, which are in global demand due to the Russia-Ukraine War.
The Defense Ministry's director general, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir said the "large-scale strategic move [is] designed to ensure the IDF's war machine continues to advance. We are investing and will continue to invest tens of billions in building infrastructure and capabilities, expanding production lines, establishing new lines, and purchasing inventories to solidify production independence."
This came on the heels of another announcement by Elbit that it won a two-year, $190 million contract to supply Iron Sting laser-guided and GPS-guided mortar bombs to the ministry.
According to Israel Hayom, other plans include an increase of production of Israeli Merkava tanks and armored vehicles, as well as the acquisition of another F-15 fighter jet squadron from the U.S. and new Reshef-class corvettes for the Israeli navy.
Israel has decided to start developing and locally producing heavy bombs, including an alternative to the American 2,000-pound MK-84 bomb, whose deliveries were stopped by the U.S. over concerns that Israel was using them in densely populated areas.
According to a report by Israel Hayom, the Defense Ministry aims to develop production lines for the bombs, which in peacetime will produce small numbers that can be rapidly ramped up during emergencies.
This is reportedly expected to take between two and three years.
Security sources also told the newspaper that the shipment of the heavy 2,000-pound bombs which was halted at the start of the year is still frozen but could be released soon.
In addition, the outlet revealed that the U.S. began delivering smaller MK-83 bombs which had been withheld since before the war began last October.
The U.S. has been transferring large amounts of weapons and munitions to Israel since the start of the war but slowed down deliveries as the tensions between the governments over Israel's strategy increased.
In June, Reuters reported that the U.S. had so far sent Israel at least 14,000 of the MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, and 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, among others.
The issue came to a head in June when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented, "It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition."
While the Biden administration protested, it also acknowledged that at least one shipment comprising thousands of bombs had been withheld. In addition, the U.K. was revealed to have implemented a "secret arms embargo."
Most recently, reports that Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris indicated openness to discussing an arms embargo against Israel were received with shock in Jerusalem.
In response, Israel sped up efforts to increase local production of arms during the past months.
Last week, the Defense Ministry announced it had awarded the Israeli defense company Elbit a 10-year, $340 million (NIS 1.5 billion) contract to build a state-of-the-art munitions factory, which will produce tank ammunition and 155 mm artillery shells, which are in global demand due to the Russia-Ukraine War.
The Defense Ministry's director general, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir said the "large-scale strategic move [is] designed to ensure the IDF's war machine continues to advance. We are investing and will continue to invest tens of billions in building infrastructure and capabilities, expanding production lines, establishing new lines, and purchasing inventories to solidify production independence."
This came on the heels of another announcement by Elbit that it won a two-year, $190 million contract to supply Iron Sting laser-guided and GPS-guided mortar bombs to the ministry.
According to Israel Hayom, other plans include an increase of production of Israeli Merkava tanks and armored vehicles, as well as the acquisition of another F-15 fighter jet squadron from the U.S. and new Reshef-class corvettes for the Israeli navy.
Republished with permission from All Israel News