After Peru, Argentina mulls buying Israeli IWI rifles

Argentinian army credit: Reuters ULAN/Pool / Latin America News Agency
Argentinian army credit: Reuters ULAN/Pool / Latin America News Agency

Argentina's Ministry of Defense is considering replacing its aging Belgium FN FAL rifles with new Arad 7 assault rifles as Peru is already doing.

Argentina's Ministry of Defense is considering replacing its aging Belgium FN FAL rifles with new Arad 7 assault rifles manufactured by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), according to a report on the ZM website. The report says that Argentina recently sent a delegation to Israel to seriously examine the procurement. If the deal goes through, the manufacture of the rifles is expected to be undertaken in Argentina - a major consideration for the government in Buenos Aires.

IWI manufactures the Arad 5 and Arad 7 assault rifles. The Arad 5 weighs 2.8 kilograms and fires 5.56 millimeter caliber bullets and was initially developed for the special forces of the IDF. The Argentinians are reportedly interested in the Arad 7, which fires 7.62 millimeter caliber bullets and weighs 4.15 kilograms.

In the event that the Argentinians go through with the procurement, it will not be the first country in Latin America to have procured IWI assault rifles. During Peru's Independence Day celebrations last month, the Peruvian army proudly presented their new Arad 7 rifles. One of the units that presented the rifles was the Peruvian army's first special forces unit. During the events, the Peruvian army said that it would receive some 10,000 rifles. The government in Lima said that the rifles were part of a program to upgrade the capabilities of the Peruvian army. Estimates are that 3,500 rifles have already been provided to Peru with the rest due to arrive by the end of October. Like Argentina, Peru is replacing Belgian FN FAL rifles as well as Galil rifles manufactured by IWI in the past.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 12, 2024.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.

Argentinian army credit: Reuters ULAN/Pool / Latin America News Agency
Argentinian army credit: Reuters ULAN/Pool / Latin America News Agency
Unframe founders credit: Yossi Yarom Israeli AI enterprise platform co Unframe raises $50m

Unframe’s turnkey AI solutions enable companies to solve any enterprise AI use case at scale with fully functional, customized AI solutions for businesses in a matter of hours, rather than months.

Combatica credit: Combatica Combatica launches next-gen VR AI training platform

The Israeli company's virtual reality platform includes 50 AI generated scenarios, seven maps and even situations for operating night vision.

Shekel credit: Shutterstock Vladirina 32 Shekel volatility after US tariffs announcement

The shekel is weakening sharply against the euro, which is gaining following the unveiling of Donald Trump's tariffs plan.

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich credit: Noam Moskovitz Knesset Spokesperson Treasury assesses potential damage to Israel's US exports

Israel will be charged a higher tariff on its exports to the US - its biggest export customer - than Turkey and the UAE.

Iranian flag credit: Shutterstock Why inflation haunts Iran

With a month-on-month increase of 3.3% and an annual rate of 37.1%, inflation reflects the struggles of millions of Iranians.

APM merges with lawyers from Doron, Tikotzky Kantor, Gutman credit: Eyal Merilos APM merges with 12 lawyers from Doron, Tikotzky Kantor, Gutman

With the addition of these 12 lawyers, Amit Pollak Matalon & Co. will now have 135 lawyers.

US President Donald Trump credit: Reuters Sipa USA Israel on list as Trump unveils tariffs

Relatively low reciprocal tariffs will be imposed on Israeli goods sold in the US.

Deflated unicorn credit: Shutterstock Big Tech 50 reports more huge falls in startup valuations

Israeli R&D partnership Big Tech 50 reports that an investment of $2 million in Orcam made in 2021, shrank to just $31,000 at the end of 2024.

NextFerm technologies based on yeast credit: NextFerm Food-tech co NextFerm suspends operations

The company, which produces food ingredients in yeast without genetic engineering, cannot pay its debts and is seeking a buyer.

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich credit: Shlomi Yosef OECD sees recovery in growth but high inflation

The OECD Israel Economic Survey 2025 recommends that the Israeli government take several restraining measures, in order to exit the economic storm created by the war.

Dano Ben-Hur credit: Dror Sithakol Statisticians contradict BoI on impact of housing finance deals

The Central Bureau of Statistics insists the impact of 20/80 buy now pay later financing deals on the real estate market and housing prices is minimal.

Governor of the Bank of Israel Amir Yaron  credit: Government Press Office Debt fears top Bank of Israel's concerns

Most unusually, Governor of the Bank of Israel Amir Yaron's press conference last week did not focus on inflation and the impending interest rate decision.

US President Donald Trump  credit: Reuters/Leah Millis Israel moves to avoid Trump's tariffs axe

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has signed an order canceling all tariffs on imports from the US. The impact will mostly be on agricultural produce.

Forbes Rich List credit: Shutterstock Maslowski Marcin Wiz founders ranked in Forbes 2025 Rich List

There are a few dozen Israelis listed in the 2025 Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List including Wiz founders Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik and Ami Luttwak.

SatixFy CEO Nir Barkan credit: Ariel Barkan Canada's MDA Space to buy Israeli satcom co SatixFy

MDA Space will pay $269 million for the Israeli company, including taking on a $76 million debt and a 75% premium on SatixFy's closing price on Nasdaq yesterday.

Raising dollars credit: Shutterstock Israeli startups raised over $1b in March

Israeli privately-held tech companies have raised $2.1 billion in the first three months of 2025, according to IVC-LeumiTech, up 24% from the corresponding quarter of 2024.

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018