Israel’s friend is on the way to an unprecedented defense budget

The Israeli defense industries are attacking Muslim countries

The Israeli defense companies will reach an impressive marketing milestone in the coming week: appearing at two prestigious exhibitions in Muslim countries. On Wednesday, the ADEX exhibition opened in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, which runs until October 2, and just five days later – the Israeli companies will make their debut at the Moroccan Air Salon, which will be held at the Moroccan Air Force base in Marrakesh.

The Israeli companies that will appear in Azerbaijan include, as expected, the big three Elbit, IAI and Rafale, but not only them. Other companies that appear are, among others, the simulators company Bagira, the drone companies Aeronautics, Bird and Vision. Azerbaijan is recognized as a prominent defense customer of the defense industries, which in the second Karabakh war in 2020 and in the additional Bezeq system against Armenia in 2023, achieved great victories thanks to the Israeli military.

Since the Abraham Accords, the Israeli defense companies have closed a series of agreements with Morocco, with the appearance at the Marrakesh Air Salon indicating further tightening of ties between the Defense Ministries. Similar to Azerbaijan, the Moroccan Air Force base will feature Elbit, the Aerospace Industry, Rafael and even Yvision, but also other companies that reflect what is being sought in Rabat, including the drone company Extend, and the satellite company Orbit.

Rafael’s new American contract

One of the main marketing methods of the Israeli defense companies is through local companies. To one degree or another, this is a necessity in a world that is turning to localization, knowledge transfer, and job creation. One of the well-known players is Raphael, who sells her popular products, among other things, with the help of local subsidiaries. A prominent product line in this manner is the world’s most popular tactical missile, the Spike.

Now, it happened again, in the USA, when the American subsidiary of Rafael won an agreement to certify the shoulder-launched Spike SR missile to the American military forces. The SR model weighs ten kilograms, and its range is about 2 km. The examination of the technology began as early as January 2021, when the US Army used the Spike SR in live fire tests in an extensive exercise they carried out. Following the satisfaction of that experiment, the current advanced stage arrived.

The Spike series includes a wide range of models, adapted to different ranges and diverse platforms. The lightest model, Tact (Spike SR), weighs about 10 kg, is carried on a shoulder and is intended for ranges of up to 2 km. At the other end is an NLOS spike known as Tamuz, which weighs about 71 kg and is capable of hitting a target from a distance of up to 32 km, and is launched from land, air or sea platforms.

Germany is on its way to a historic defense budget

Germany has positioned itself in recent years as a prominent customer of the Israeli defense industries. The Arrow 3 deal brought it to second place in the table of Israel’s defense export targets between 2021-2025, with about 21% of all sales. This is according to the Stockholm Institute for Peace Studies. This growth trend is expected to continue, in the shadow of the optimism expressed by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius regarding the increase of the German defense budget in 2027.

The German Ministry of Defense appealed to the Bundestag, requesting a record budget of nearly 140 billion euros, including a 109.7 billion euro core budget for the ministry – about 32.7% more than in 2026. The remaining 30 billion euros will be allocated for a “special fund for the military”, an off-budget fund that was established about four years ago as a result of learning lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, and was supposed to expire.

At the same time, the Germans, led by Pistorius, are working with the United States, with the aim of transferring to them the production of PAC-3 interceptors, the most advanced model of Patriot systems. A central reason why Washington may agree is the difficulty of the American companies to meet the demand for interceptors, as a result of the widespread use of the Patriot both in Ukraine and in the Middle East against Iran.