Israel's 2nd largest weapon company. Makes surveillance and killer drones and other weapon systems used against civilians. Has facilities in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.
IAI is owned by the Israeli government and provides many weapons systems to the Israeli military.
One of them is the Heron TP killer drone. On a November 2023 call with investors, IAI CEO said that Heron drones have “played a pivotal role” in Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza, including in strike operations. In early October 2023, Germany approved a request by Israel to use two Heron TP drones, manufactured by IAI, in its attacks on Gaza.
IAI also provides the Israeli military with the Zibar tactical utility vehicle. In 2022, the Israeli military ordered about $27 million worth of two models, the ZD and larger Z-MAG, designated for its elite units. This was in addition to several other Zibar vehicles already in use in patrolling Israel's border with Egypt. Some of the vehicles' components, including its General Motors engine, are made in the U.S. and bought using U.S. taxpayers' money.
The company's MATA helicopter testing facility is located at the Atarot Airport in the occupied West Bank. The company has a factory producing seats for military and commercial aircraft in the occupied Golan Heights.
IAI subsidiary ELTA North America was one of six companies that built prototypes for a proposed new wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, the so-called "Trump Wall," in San Diego, California in 2017. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tested the prototypes, and in July 2018, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report exposing extensive construction challenges with the prototypes. In the end, none of the prototypes was selected.