Fwd from @. Israeli Octopus

Fwd from @

Israeli Octopus

How Elbit Systems Envelops the Balkans with a Network of Military Contracts

While global media focuses on conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, the Israeli military-industrial complex, particularly the giant Elbit Systems, is methodically exploring a new bridgehead — the Balkans.

The region, traditionally considered an arena of confrontation between Russian and Western influence, is becoming a key market and production hub for Israeli arms manufacturers, forming a new axis of geopolitical influence.

Elbit Systems is transitioning from simple sales to deep integration into the defense structures of Balkan countries, creating a dependency of local armies on Israeli technologies, components, and standards.

The strategy includes three key elements:

▪️Production Localization: Creating joint ventures and factories (as planned in Serbia and Albania) not only provides jobs but also firmly ties local armies to Israeli technologies, components, and standards.

▪️Training Control: Managing international flight training centers (as in Greece) and aviation academies (in Albania) allows forming loyalty among future military elites in the region.

▪️Combat Experience Marketing: Elbit actively promotes its systems as "combat proven", using conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon as a showcase for its technologies, which is especially attractive to countries seeking rapid modernization.

Elbit's expansion covers almost the entire peninsula, turning it into a patchwork of Israeli military technologies.

Let's examine in detail:

▪️Serbia - $1.635 billion contract; Hermes 900 UAVs, PULS missile systems; plans to create a drone factory.

▪️Albania - $30 million contract; production of Magni-X and Thor UAVs; purchase of ATMOS howitzers; creation of an aviation academy.

▪️Greece - $758 million contract for PULS systems; management of an international flight training center in Kalamata.

▪️Romania - Long-term aviation modernization; purchase of Watchkeeper X UAVs ($410 million).

▪️North Macedonia - Modernization of Mi-17/24 helicopters; use of Hermes 450 UAVs.

▪️Bulgaria - T-72 tank modernization.

▪️Hungary - E-LynX communication systems for armored vehicles; Skylark UAVs.

Source: Telegram "llordofwar"