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Despite grim forecasts, Israeli defense exports reach 5.7 billion U.S. dollars

Xinhua, April 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel's defense exports in 2015 reached 5.7 billion U.S. dollars, more than previously expected by the industry, the Israeli Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The figure, announced by the Defense Ministry's International Defense Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT), marks a slight rise from the 5.66 billion U.S. dollars worth of military export contracts signed throughout 2014.

The figure is a relief for the defense establishment and manufacturing companies, who feared the total revenue from defense exports in 2015 would plummet.

Towards the end of 2015, heads of Israel's four largest companies manufacturing products for military use warned that defense-related exports could fall below five billion U.S. dollars, amid a decline in the global economy, tough competition and shrinking markets, the Globes economic daily reported.

"At the end of a challenging year... we managed to keep the level of contracts signed stable," director for SIBAT in the Defense Ministry, Mishel Ben Baruch, said in the ministry's statement on Wednesday.

The two leading exports in demand are upgrading of airplanes and aerospace systems, mainly by Israel's Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems, and sales of ammunition and weapons platforms, each category accounting for approximately 14 percent of overall defense exports in 2015.

According to the ministry, radar and electronic systems, among them electronic warfare and signals intelligence systems, made 12 percent of overall overseas sales, with the manufacturing of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

The main countries purchasing these technologies come from Asia and the Pacific, with sales to the region exceeding 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, nearly 50 percent of overall earnings, with Europe coming in second place, purchasing 1.6 billion U.S. dollars worth of Israeli exports.

Israel is considered one of the top 10 arms and military technological systems exporter in the world. Endit