Exposed: The UK firms supplying Elbit Systems

Published in partnership with Irish investigative news site The Ditch

Over a dozen UK companies supplied Israel’s largest arms firm Elbit Systems during the Gaza genocide, it can be revealed.

It comes as the company reports a third-quarter profit jump which its CEO attributed to sales to the Israeli military for use in Gaza and new European contracts.

Elbit cooperates closely with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and describes itself as the “backbone” of the Israeli military’s drone fleet.

Drones developed by Elbit have “flown alongside fighter jets, surveilling Palestinians and delivering target intelligence”, according to UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

The company was awarded the Israel Defense Prize last year for producing technology for the IDF as well as contributing to a “classified project”.

Shipping documents obtained by Declassified and The Ditch now reveal how scores of UK-based companies have been exporting to Elbit sites across Israel since October 2023.

The shipped items include components for military aircraft and drones, military hardware such as ammunition containers, and composite materials used in the aerospace industry.

The information exposes how UK-based companies have been trading with Israel’s largest arms firm during what has been described as history’s most televised genocide.

Many of the exports took place after the Labour government’s arms suspensions in September 2024, showing the limitations of a partial arms embargo.

While some of the companies say that the shipments are intended for re-export and not for use by the IDF, they nonetheless support Israel’s arms industry.

Military aircraft parts

At least five UK companies have supplied aircraft components to Elbit since October 2023, the data shows.

Those companies include Moog in Wolverhampton, Martin-Baker in Uxbridge, Incora in Leeds, Industrial Gas Springs in Surrey, and UAV Tactical Systems in Leicestershire.

Moog and Martin-Baker have supplied parts for Israel’s fleet of trainer aircraft including the M-346 Lavi and T-6.

Most of Moog’s shipments were sent to an Elbit facility at Hatzerim Airbase, while others were dispatched directly to the Israeli ministry of defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Martin-Baker, which produces ejection seats for the F-35 fighter jets which have been used to drop 2,000lb bombs on Gaza, also sent trainer aircraft parts to an Elbit site in Karmiel.

Several of the Moog and Martin-Baker shipments were sent after the Labour government’s arms export suspensions on Israel were announced last year.

The UK government argues that trainer aircraft parts are exempt from suspensions because those aircraft are not being used in Gaza.

Trade minister Chris Bryant claimed that it would take so long for Israeli pilots to train on fighter jets that UK-made trainer aircraft components could not be useful for Gaza operations.

This was despite the Jerusalem Post reporting that Israeli pilots require just “six months training in the [M-346] Lavi… during their Operational and Advanced Operational Training Course”.

The shipping documents also detail how Industrial Gas Springs in Surrey, UAV Tactical Systems in Leicester, and Incora in Leeds have shipped aircraft parts to Elbit in Israel over recent months.

Industrial Gas Springs, which holds licences to export parts for military aircraft head-up/down displays to Israel, shipped “military aircraft parts” to Elbit’s Electro-Optics (ELOP) site in Rehovot in July 2025.

UAV Tactical Systems, a joint venture between Elbit UK and Thales UK, sent components to Elbit’s Advanced Technology Centre in Haifa in October 2024 and September 2025, while aerospace supplier Incora shipped specialised fasteners to Elbit in Karmiel in August 2025.

Military hardware

Other UK-based companies have been exporting military hardware and supplies to Elbit sites across Israel during the genocide, the shipping documents reveal.

Permoid, an engineering firm in Durham, sent hundreds of ammunition containers to Elbit Systems Land in Ramat Hasharon near Tel Aviv between October 2023 and April 2025.

This Elbit factory produces armaments for the IDF including 155mm and 122mm mortal shells, raising the prospect that Permoid’s ammo boxes are being used to facilitate war crimes in Gaza.

Instro Precision, an Elbit subsidiary in Kent, has sent military-grade tripods and radar kits to Elbit in Holon.

On 3 November 2025, Instro also sent a “ReDrone Portable” to an Elbit facility in Holon, Israel.

The ReDrone Portable is used to “detect and neutralize advanced drone threats, creating up to a kilometer-wide safety zone”. It is “ideal for tactical teams needing mobile anti-drone defense”, according to Elbit.

Thales in Crawley has exported radar components to Elbit in Haifa. On 6 November 2025, the company also sent an “I-Master airborne surveillance radar” to Israel.

The I-Master “delivers all-weather surveillance, pattern of life monitoring, change detection and wide area-coverage”, according to Thales. “It detects and locates moving and stationary targets at long stand-off ranges over land and sea”.

It was exported under the ML5b licence, according to the shipping document, which covers “target acquisition, designation, range-finding, surveillance or tracking systems”.

A spokesperson for Thales told Declassified that the company “strictly complies with UK and international regulations” and its shipments are “intended for re-exporting purposes to a European end user”.

However, the UK government has no end-use monitoring system in place to ensure military goods exported to Israel are not subsequently used by the IDF.

Other suppliers to Elbit in Israel have included PEI-Genesis in Southampton, which supplies military-grade connectors to the arms industry, and Elbit’s Horizon facility in Bristol.

Composite materials

In addition, UK-based firms have supplied composite and raw materials to Elbit facilities in Israel, some of which are likely for use in the aerospace industry.

Those companies include Syensqo (formerly Solvay), a chemicals firm in Wrexham which has sent at least 10 shipments to Elbit Systems Cyclone Aviation in Karmiel.

According to the aircraft directory Airframer, Syensqo makes composites for Elbit’s Hermes 450 drone, which was used to kill seven international aid workers including three Britons in Gaza last year.

Shipping documents also show that Toray Advanced Composites, a carbon fibre manufacturer in Nottingham, has sent “composite materials in dry ice” to Elbit in Karmiel, while Ami-Con in Towcester has exported resins and dry ice pallets to Elbit in Haifa.

A spokesperson for Toray told Declassified the firm could not “disclose any details around customers who purchase our materials” but remains in “compliance with all UK export laws”.

All companies named in the article were approached for comment.