Elbit wins German army PULS artillery system tender – report

The German military continues its extensive defense procurement in Israel and has selected PULS rocket artillery systems manufactured by Elbit Systems, after intense competition from an American competitor, Defense News reported this week.

According to the report, the German Parliament has approved the first tranche of €65 million for the purchase of artillery systems with Elbit beating Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall who jointly entered a competing bid. Elbit’s bid is being made in cooperation with the Franco-German contractor KNDS, which will be responsible for the delivery of artillery and ammunition systems.

A German Defense Ministry spokesperson told the site that the US-German offer “was not far enough along” and that “a usable prototype was not available” for the GMARS system. In addition, the Dutch and Danish militaries have purchased Elbit artillery systems, making future cooperation possible.

“The Dutch army is deeply integrated into the structures of the German army, and the use of the combined weapons system will enable further cooperation,” the spokesman told Defense News. The website stated that besides the system itself, Germany needs US approval to use state-manufactured weapons (GMLRS) in Israeli systems, but it is expected to be granted. The United States had previously agreed for Germany to become the world’s first customer for the Arrow-3 ballistic missile defense system.

“Germany is coordinating closely with the United States on this issue,” the Defense Ministry’s latest statement said. On the other hand, Lockheed Martin’s CEO told the site in the summer that such an option is “absolutely not on the table.”

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 missiles to Ukraine for its war against the Russian invasion, and because of the need to strengthen them 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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