David’s Sling launching a SkyCeptor missile. (Rafael)
TEL AVIV: Finland and Sweden’s now professed intention to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already spurred talks between those governments and Israel about purchasing advanced Israel defense systems and weapons, according to defense sources here.
Both nations were already customers of Israeli defense firms, but the move towards NATO has accelerated negotiations, and new deals are being discussed, sources said.
A spokesperson for the Israeli ministry of defense declined to comment for this report, only saying, “as a rule, we do not discuss negotiations about arms deals.”
The potential deals come as Finland and Sweden brace for some form of retaliation from Russia over the expected NATO bids. Ironically, Russia used NATO’s expansion as one pretext for its Ukrainian misadventure.
RELATED: Finland preparing for Russian ‘consequences’ if it joins NATO
Sources say the two nations are considering Israeli radars, anti-tank systems and active protection systems for their armored ground platforms. A senior Israeli defense source told Breaking Defense that all the Israeli defense systems use Link 16 communication protocol, in line with US and NATO systems, making interoperability a non-issue.
The talks follow a spate of announced deals or deals in progress between Israel and the Scandinavian nations.
Finland announced in March it had narrowed a competition for a new, advanced air defense system down to two Israeli firms, Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Systems. IAI is offering the modular Barak MX system, while Rafael is offering David’s Sling, which is currently part of Israel’s multi-layered air defense system alongside the Iron Dome and the Arrow ballistic missile interceptor.
The same month in Sweden, Israel’s Elbit systems announced it had won an approximate $27 million contract to provide Sweden’s military with M339 tank ammunition and Data Setting Units for its Leopard Main Battle Tanks. (An Elbit subsidiary was named to sell the same tank ammo to Finland earlier in the year.)
And earlier Elbit nabbed a deal to mine countermeasure systems to the Swedish navy — a deal made by Elbit’s year-old a Sweden-based subsidiary, a sign of how confident the Israeli firm is in its business with its new northern client.
