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Israeli Engineers Sell Missile Technology to China

The following is adapted from “Israeli Aerospace Engineers Earned Tens of Millions Illegally Selling Advanced Missiles to China” by Richard Silverstein, February 11, 2021.  The original text has been silently abridged and copyedited for clarity, but not its quotes. [*]

Israel’s Shin Bet announced it broke up a ring of Israeli aerospace engineers who had sold Israel’s most advanced missile technology to China in return for “tens of millions” of dollars. There were at least 20 individuals involved, many of whom had previously served in sensitive intelligence or weapons development roles in the IDF. Some of the ring worked for Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and others worked for similar Israeli companies which manufacture missiles. Haaretz says that the technology involved “loitering missiles,” which are launched and then track a target and wait for the optimal moment to attack.

Israeli media is under a military censorship order prohibiting the naming of China as the nation which was the destination for the missiles. IAI may also not be mentioned as part of the censorship order. 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 avoided detection by using middle men as intermediaries between Israel and the ultimate buyer, China, and complex financial transactions to conceal the funds that were transferred between the buyers and sellers.

The current scandal is significant because the U.S. is sensitive to Israeli arms sales to China since some of Israel’s technology derives from U.S. sources. In the past Israel has knowingly sold advanced U.S. military technology to China.

The Israeli report on the case notes Shin Bet’s fear that the stolen technology could end up in the hands of a an “enemy state” [of Israel]. 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. China could resell the missiles, or the technical specifications, which would permit Iran to copy the Israeli system.

*  Offered here for educational purposes only, under U.S.C. Title 17 Section 107.