Israel's defense exports soared 40% in 2017, totaling a record $9.2 billion, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry attributed the spike in defense exports to a series of significant arms deals between the Israel Aerospace Industries and India, chiefly a $2.5 billion deal to supply the country with the Barak 8 maritime defense system.
Meanwhile, dozens of contracts were signed in 2017, further positioning Israel as a top global defense exporter, and the trend is projected to continue in 2018, the ministry said.
The Defense Ministry's figures indicate that the bulk of defense exports, 31%, consisted of missile and air defense systems, followed by the sales of radar and electronic warfare systems (17%) and the upgrading of weapons and avionics platforms (14%).
The sale of munition and weaponry posts made up 9% of all exports, as did deals involving communications systems.
Electro-optics and surveillance systems' sales amounted to 8% of exports, followed by the sale of intelligence, information and cyber systems (5%), services (3%), drone sales (2%), and marine and satellites systems, which made up 1% of the total defense exports, each.
Asia proved to be the main target market for Israeli defense companies in 2017, with 58% of the sales. Europe was the second-largest market (21%), followed by North America (14%), Africa (5%) and Latin America (2%).
Brig. Gen. (res.) Michel Ben-Baruch, who heads the International Defense Cooperation Directorate at the Defense Ministry, attributed the increase in exports to a rise in defense spending by NATO members, which place a growing emphasis on homefront defense and border protection systems, something he linked to the waves of immigration in recent years and the challenge posed to defense agencies by the growing terrorist threats.
"We are proud to conclude a very successful year for Israeli defense exports, which has yielded new contracts for the defense industry worth more than $9 billion," Ben-Baruch told Israel Hayom.
"Israeli defense industries are highly respected and trusted around the world thanks to the advanced and high-quality developments, and the unique solutions proven operational by the IDF," he said.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman lauded the solid performance shown by the defense industries saying, "Within two years, we have increased defense exports by tens of percentage points. That is an extraordinary achievement by any measure and it was achieved with hard work and through a series of agreements with countries that expressed confidence in the Defense Ministry's capabilities and creativity.
"This achievement will enable us to increase research and development budgets, create new jobs and, most importantly, to ensure the IDF's superiority for many years to come," he said.
