The exercise, named Pegasus Athena, represented a \u201cstep change in capability for the armed forces\u201d, according to the company, because it allowed troops to train \u201cwithout the need for external assets and\u2026 ammunition stockpiles\u201d.<\/p>\n
This training is just one small example of the enduring and tightly entangled role of the Israeli arms industry in Britain\u2019s defence sector.<\/p>\n
Declassified has found how over recent years the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded scores of major tenders to Israeli weapons firms, worth hundreds of millions of pounds.<\/p>\n
Israeli technology can be found in one of Britain\u2019s key air defence systems as well as in missiles used by the Royal Air Force, while the Royal Navy relies on Israeli-made anti-missile systems and British soldiers train on simulators designed by Elbit.<\/p>\n
In Miliband\u2019s speech, the British foreign secretary said Britain\u2019s finding that the Israeli occupation is unlawful brings it in line with the advisory opinion handed down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.<\/p>\n
That ruling found Israel\u2019s occupation unlawful, but also obligated all states \u201cnot to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation\u201d created by the occupation.<\/p>\n
The Israeli arms industry is tightly bound up with the Israeli state, and profits from the occupation by supplying the military hardware, ammunition, and surveillance used to enforce it.<\/p>\n
It follows that international clients, including Britain\u2019s MoD, are sustaining the occupation by awarding contracts to Israeli arms firms while benefitting from the occupation by purchasing items that have been \u201cbattle tested\u201d on Palestinians.<\/p>\n
The closeness of Israel\u2019s arms industry with Britain\u2019s military raises further questions not only about how difficult it would be to separate the two, but also the extent to which defence integration limits the prospects for meaningful diplomatic pressure on Israel.<\/p>\n
Genocide scholar Martin Shaw told Declassified: \u201cThe government\u2019s acceptance that the occupation is illegal means that it should act against Israel itself, not just the settlers it has installed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ICJ was clear that states must do nothing that provides \u2018aid or assistance\u2019 to Israel in maintaining the occupation, and must \u2018ensure that any impediment\u2019 that the occupation causes to the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination \u2018is brought to an end\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the UK\u2019s military alliance with Israel and its comprehensive military-industrial cooperation, Labour still appears to be failing in these legal duties, despite Miliband\u2019s announcements\u201d.<\/p>\n
RELATED<\/p>\n
Training exercises and simulations<\/p>\n Pegasus Athena was far from the first British military exercise<\/a> assisted by Elbit.<\/p>\n In 2023, Elbit won MoD contracts to \u201cdevelop and provide artillery and mortar training simulators\u201d for the army and to \u201cdesign, provide, maintain and operate\u201d a simulation trainer for Boxer armoured vehicles and Challenger tanks.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s Interim Combined Arms Virtual Simulation has also been \u201cbenefiting the British army since 2022\u201d and was deployed that year in what it said was \u201cthe largest field army exercise in Europe for the past decade\u201d involving 3,500 troops and up to 800 vehicles.<\/p>\n Another asset developed by Elbit Systems, the Joint Fires Synthetic Trainer, has \u201cdelivered over 12,000 hours of training to British armed forces and NATO allies\u201d over recent years.<\/p>\n In addition to simulations, Elbit Systems won a five-year MoD contract<\/a> in 2021 worth \u00a3102m for a Dismounted Joint Fires Integrator which \u201callows frontline soldiers to detect and engage enemy targets in seconds\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, Elbit UK delivered <\/a>Ground Based Surveillance Radar systems to the UK\u2019s Royal Artillery under a \u00a314m contract signed in 2023, which \u201cenhance the situational awareness of personnel on the ground\u201d.<\/p>\n In 2021, Elbit UK became part of a joint venture named Affinity Flying Training Services Ltd to be awarded a \u00a365m contract lasting 12 years for the operation of Texan T-C6 trainer aircraft for the UK Military Flying Training System program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another major MoD programme facilitated by Elbit, the Maritime Electronic Warfare System Integrated Capability, is helping British navy ships with anti-missile defence. This followed a \u00a3103m contract awarded<\/a> to Babcock and Elbit in 2021.<\/p>\n The system \u201cwill be installed on current and future warships including the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, Type 45 destroyers and Type 26 and Type 31 frigates currently in build\u201d, the government said<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n Subsidiaries of Elbit UK have also played a key role in supplying the MoD over recent years.<\/p>\n In 2021, Instro Precision won<\/a> a \u00a311.5m contract to supply the British army with night vision goggles, with further purchase orders<\/a> totalling over \u00a316m made over subsequent years.<\/p>\n U-TacS, a joint venture between Elbit UK and French arms firm Thales, oversaw the \u00a32bn Watchkeeper programme<\/a> which supplied the British army with deficient drones.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elbit\u2019s Hermes 450 drones were also procured by the British army in 2007 under Project Lydian for operational support in Afghanistan at a cost of around \u00a3200m.<\/p>\n Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, told Declassified: \u201cThis important investigation exposes precisely why the UK government\u2019s recent measures are largely performative and designed to whitewash the multifaceted, shameless complicity of the UK with Israel\u2019s regime of settler-colonialism, illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UK has failed to end the economic relationships, trade agreements and academic relations with Israel that may contribute to its unlawful presence and apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory, as it is obliged to do in order to comply with the ICJ ruling.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is absurd for the UK to sanction settlements while simultaneously purchasing and integrating Israeli surveillance and weapon systems that are field-tested on Palestinians into its own armed forces.<\/p>\n \u201cComparing these largely symbolic measures with the far-reaching sanctions imposed by the UK on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine affirms the UK\u2019s colonial hypocrisy and loss of credibility on the international stage\u201d.<\/p>\n Rafael<\/p>\n Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, Israel\u2019s largest state-owned arms firm, has also been awarded major contracts by the MoD over recent years.<\/p>\n In 2024, the company was part of a consortium awarded<\/a> a \u00a338m tender for the procurement of systems to develop counter-drone capabilities for combat soldiers.<\/p>\n Rafael also won<\/a> a \u00a320m contract alongside Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land in 2023 for \u201ccutting-edge new rocket and missile protect systems for Britain\u2019s Challenger 3 tanks\u201d, which are scheduled to enter into service next year.<\/p>\n In addition to this, the Israeli state-owned company supplies the \u201cbrains\u201d for Britain\u2019s Sky Sabre air defence system, which is deployed at sensitive sites such as the Falklands.<\/p>\n When Rafael won the Sky Sabre contract in 2017, a defence executive said<\/a>: \u201cEverybody was extremely surprised the MoD opted for Rafael. Politically, industry thought that was a route the UK government wouldn\u2019t go down\u2026It makes you wonder just what parts of the local defense industry the government is willing to defend\u201d.<\/p>\n Rafael also manufactures<\/a> Litening pods which are used by the Royal Air Force\u2019s Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for precision targeting capabilities.<\/p>\n Closer to home, Rafael owns<\/a> a subsidiary named Pearson Engineering in Newcastle which recently won a \u00a310m contract to supply the British army with \u201c26 Track Width Mine Ploughs\u201d.<\/p>\n The contract was awarded without any competition for \u201ctechnical reasons\u201d, indicating how no other provider was able to supply the items.<\/p>\n RELATED<\/p>\n Project HEZUK<\/p>\n
\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01-header-healey-radakin.jpg\")
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/UK-Streeting-March2026-Alamy.jpg\")
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-1024x719.png\")
One of the slides prepared by the British defence attach\u00e9 in Israel around 2019 <\/p>\n