Elbit Systems are Israel’s largest weapons company, producing 85% of the IOF’s killer drones and land-based military apparatus of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – or IOF, Israel Occupation Forces. They also produce munitions and components for all Israeli attack aircrafts. Elbit conducted the first artificial intelligence war which infamously led to the killing of the Bakr boys who were playing football on a beach in Gaza in 2014.
In 2017 Elbit became the contractor for the surveillance system attached to the concrete wall surrounding Gaza, which was completed in late 2021 to enforce the blockade of Gaza. This included automated and autonomous vehicles and aircraft.
Elbit Systems UK is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems, working under the control and strategy of the parent company in Tel Aviv. The Filton site was opened in July 2023 by Elbit Systems UK CEO Martin Fausset and Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely. The opening ceremony was attended by government and industry representatives including Jack Lopresti MP.
The company functions as the civilian arm of the IOF. Elbit’s CEO Bezhalel Machlis boasted that the company is crucial to the ongoing genocide. The company has been thanked by Israeli military officials for being “the main operating system” to the IOF.
Elbit markets their products as “battle-tested” on Palestinians. What this means is that when you hear reports from doctors in Gaza sharing “we’ve never seen burns like this before”, this is because Elbit experiments with new military technologies by testing them on captive Palestinian civilians. Often, Elbit workers go out into the field with the IOF to observe their products in use and then refine the technology according to the success of the operation. Workers of the company have said in interviews that they consider themselves to be civil soldiers.
After testing their products on Palestinians, Elbit then sells their products on to other authoritarian regimes to be used. Palestine has therefore become Elbit’s ‘showroom’. To note, Elbit’s military equipment was used during the invasion of Iraq, against the Kashmiri people, and for the Mexico-US border wall. The company also supplies the UK authorities with drones to patrol the English Channel, targeting migrants seeking refuge in Britain, and the UK Ministry of Defence was even considering Elbit for a £2.5billion army training contract, before journalists from the Private Eye exposed that this was in the works.
In March 2026, Elbit Systems boasted of their surge in demand since the US-Israeli war on Iran becoming Israel’s most valuable company.
Elbit Systems is therefore at the apex of the Zionist war machine, operating across nine sites in the UK.