Iranian attack could lead to significant windfall for Israeli defense firms
Demand for Israeli defense products expected to increase following successful real-world demonstration
Israeli defense companies have seen a significant rise in share prices and increased interest in their products following Israel’s successful defense against the Iranian attacks on April 13.
Israeli firms trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) saw noticeable rises in stock prices following the Iranian attacks.
Israel's largest publicly traded defense company, Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT), saw a nearly 4% increase in share prices, while other defense firms like Aerodrome Group (TASE: ARDM) and NextVision Stabilized Systems (TASE: NXSN), saw increases of 6.07% and 5.27% respectively.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which manufactures the Arrow anti-missile system, told Ynet News the company saw an increase in supportive phone calls from current and potential customers following the report of successful Arrow interceptions of Iranian ballistic missiles.
"It's a day of pride for many of our employees, who work day and night and in the end, everything converges to one event," IAI CEO Boaz Levy told Ynet.
The Arrow system is designed to protect against ballistic missiles, which have larger warheads and faster flying times than the rockets used by Iranian proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. For those smaller rockets, Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system is designed to intercept rockets heading for populated areas.
However, the larger, faster ballistic missiles, which can travel from Iran to Israel in a matter of minutes, are beyond the capability of the Iron Dome. The Arrow system is designed to intercept such missiles, and according to the IDF, there were multiple successful intercepts on Saturday evening.
Levy said the attacks were unprecedented due to the sheer number of simultaneous threats.
“Yesterday was an attack the world had not known like it: The number of simultaneous threats, even in the Ukraine-Russia war, there were no attacks in such numbers and not in such a complex scenario of a number of threats of different types,” he told Ynet.
Levy also praised Israel Defense Forces and the Ministry of Defense for “maintaining Israel’s security” following the attacks.
“IAI’s engineers have been working for years to deal with the varied threats against the State of Israel. They have reached a degree of excellence reflected in the results we saw tonight, and this with the full support and cooperation of Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the IDF,” Levy said. “We are proud to contribute to maintaining Israel's security against any threat, however complex it may be.”
About 71% of IAI’s sales in 2023 were for export to other nations, reflecting the demand for such products, along with appreciation for the technological superiority of Israeli systems.
In 2023, approximately 71% of IAI’s sales were for export to foreign nations, reflecting the demand for these products, along with appreciation for the technological superiority of Israeli systems.
Israeli defense companies may not be the only winners from the increased conflict between Israel and Iran.
According to a report by Finbold, several American defense firms, such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, are also poised to benefit from increased global interest in aerial defense products.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
