The German army is continuing its extensive defense procurements in Israel and has chosen the PULS rocket artillery systems manufactured by Elbit Systems, following close competition from an American rival, "Defense News" reports this week.
According to the report, the German parliament has approved the first batch worth €65 million for procuring the artillery systems with Elbit prevailing over Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall who had jointed together in a rival bid. Elbit’s bid is together with French-German contractor KNDS, which will be responsible for delivering the artillery systems and munitions.
A German Ministry of Defense spokesperson told the website that the US-German bid "wasn’t far enough along" and that "a usable prototype was not available," of the GMARS system. In addition, the Dutch and Danish armies, have already procured the Elbit artillery systems, which would make future cooperation possible.
"The Dutch army is deeply integrated into German army structures, and the use of a common weapon system will enable further cooperation," the spokesman told "Defense News." Along with the system itself, the website reported, Germany needs US approval to use the state-made armament (GMLRS) in the Israeli systems, but this is expected to be granted. The US has previously approved Germany to become the world's first customer for the Arrow-3 ballistic missile defense system.
"Germany is in close coordination with the US on this issue," the latest Defense Ministry statement said. On the other hand, Lockheed Martin’s CEO told the website in the summer that such an option is "not on the table at all."
Israeli defense sources explain that there has been fierce competition in this field in Europe over the past two years, since countries "donated" their existing artillery rockets to Ukraine for its war against Russia’s invasion, and because of the need to strengthen its militarily due to fears of a Russian invasion of NATO countries.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 7, 2025.
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