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BREAKING: Israeli Aerospace Engineers Earned Tens of Millions Illegally Selling Advanced Missiles to China
February 11, 2021 by Richard Silverstein 2 Comments
Israel’s Shin Bet announced it had broken up a ring of Israeli aerospace engineers which had sold the country’s most advanced missile technology to China in return for “tens of millions” of dollars. There were at least 20 individuals involved in the illegal trade, many of whom had previously served in sensitive intelligence or weapons development roles in the IDF. Haaretz says that the the technology involved loitering missiles, which are launched and track a target and wait for the optimal moment to attack.
Israeli media is under a military censorship order prohibiting the naming of China (most reports mention an “Asian nation”) as the nation which was the destination for the missiles. It also prohibits the name of the Israeli weapons manufacturer whose products were stolen. It is the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). A well-informed security source provided this information to me. IAI develops some of Israel’s most powerful and sensitive Aerospace technology. Among its most advanced is the Harop:
Harop is a loitering munition (LM) system developed in Israel by the MBT missiles division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The unmanned combat aerial vehicle is also known as the Harpy-2 loitering munitions missile. The drone loiters over the battlefield and attacks the targets by self-destructing into them.
The Harop unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) has been developed from the Harpy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also developed by the IAI.
Such weaponry is at the cutting edge of current military development.
The conspirators used highly sophisticated means of avoiding detection including middle men who acted as intermediaries between Israel and the ultimate buyer, China. The buyer’s identity is censored by the Israeli military censor. They also employed complex financial transactions to conceal the funds that were transferred between the buyers and sellers. The report added that this was one of the most serious security breaches in recent Israeli history.
Nor is it an outlier. In recent years, another Israeli aerospace company seeking to sell attack drones to Azerbaijan actually used its own executives to demonstrate the weaponry by mounting an attack on an Armenian military outpost. Though the name of the company and country buying the drones was censored by Israel, I reported the full story here.
The current scandal is even more significant because China is a rival to the US, and the latter is extremely sensitive to Israeli arms sales to the Asian state, since some of its technology derives from US sources. In fact, Israel has knowingly sold advanced US military technology to China, raising the hackles of previous administrations. Further, Israeli relations with the Biden administration are already frosty, given Israel’s outright rejection of peace negotiations of compromise with Palestinians. This will certainly not help matters. I have sent queries to the Defense and State Departments asking for comment. DoD offered no comment.
The Israeli report on the case also notes the fear by the Shin Bet that the stolen technology could end up in the hands of a an “enemy state.” My source told me that Israel is most worried about it falling into the hands of Iran or North Korea, both of which have commercial and military ties to China. It recently announced a long-term deal with Iran involving sales of oil to China in exchange for commercial products and military technology. It’s possible Israeli counterintelligence officials are worried that China could sell the missiles themselves, or the technical specifications which would permit Iranian engineers to copy the Israeli system.
DONATE: This is precisely the sort of report you will never read in US media. And in spite of the scandal being reported in general terms, you will not find the full story even in Israeli media. Please show your support for these important news stories which expose the troubling activities of the Israeli national security state. YOU may give via Donate for Good (tax-deductible) or Paypal icons in the right sidebar.
www.richardsilverstein.com
February 11, 2021 by Richard Silverstein 2 Comments
Israel’s Shin Bet announced it had broken up a ring of Israeli aerospace engineers which had sold the country’s most advanced missile technology to China in return for “tens of millions” of dollars. There were at least 20 individuals involved in the illegal trade, many of whom had previously served in sensitive intelligence or weapons development roles in the IDF. Haaretz says that the the technology involved loitering missiles, which are launched and track a target and wait for the optimal moment to attack.
Israeli media is under a military censorship order prohibiting the naming of China (most reports mention an “Asian nation”) as the nation which was the destination for the missiles. It also prohibits the name of the Israeli weapons manufacturer whose products were stolen. It is the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). A well-informed security source provided this information to me. IAI develops some of Israel’s most powerful and sensitive Aerospace technology. Among its most advanced is the Harop:
Harop is a loitering munition (LM) system developed in Israel by the MBT missiles division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The unmanned combat aerial vehicle is also known as the Harpy-2 loitering munitions missile. The drone loiters over the battlefield and attacks the targets by self-destructing into them.
The Harop unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) has been developed from the Harpy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also developed by the IAI.
Such weaponry is at the cutting edge of current military development.
The conspirators used highly sophisticated means of avoiding detection including middle men who acted as intermediaries between Israel and the ultimate buyer, China. The buyer’s identity is censored by the Israeli military censor. They also employed complex financial transactions to conceal the funds that were transferred between the buyers and sellers. The report added that this was one of the most serious security breaches in recent Israeli history.
Nor is it an outlier. In recent years, another Israeli aerospace company seeking to sell attack drones to Azerbaijan actually used its own executives to demonstrate the weaponry by mounting an attack on an Armenian military outpost. Though the name of the company and country buying the drones was censored by Israel, I reported the full story here.
The current scandal is even more significant because China is a rival to the US, and the latter is extremely sensitive to Israeli arms sales to the Asian state, since some of its technology derives from US sources. In fact, Israel has knowingly sold advanced US military technology to China, raising the hackles of previous administrations. Further, Israeli relations with the Biden administration are already frosty, given Israel’s outright rejection of peace negotiations of compromise with Palestinians. This will certainly not help matters. I have sent queries to the Defense and State Departments asking for comment. DoD offered no comment.
The Israeli report on the case also notes the fear by the Shin Bet that the stolen technology could end up in the hands of a an “enemy state.” My source told me that Israel is most worried about it falling into the hands of Iran or North Korea, both of which have commercial and military ties to China. It recently announced a long-term deal with Iran involving sales of oil to China in exchange for commercial products and military technology. It’s possible Israeli counterintelligence officials are worried that China could sell the missiles themselves, or the technical specifications which would permit Iranian engineers to copy the Israeli system.
DONATE: This is precisely the sort of report you will never read in US media. And in spite of the scandal being reported in general terms, you will not find the full story even in Israeli media. Please show your support for these important news stories which expose the troubling activities of the Israeli national security state. YOU may give via Donate for Good (tax-deductible) or Paypal icons in the right sidebar.
BREAKING: Israeli Aerospace Engineers Earned Tens of Millions Illegally Selling Advanced Missiles to China – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
Exposing secrets of the Israeli national security state
www.richardsilverstein.com
