Dual-use tech: the Elbit example

Other dual-use products manufactured by Elbit include its Hermes 900 drone, which is among the company’s largest unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The “multi-role” drone can carry weapons payloads and is designed for military operations, as well as “para-military and civilian missions”. These include homeland security, land and sea border control, environmental surveys, “deforestation purposes”, rescue services and disaster relief.

The European Maritime Safety Agency has used Hermes 900 to help coast guards address a range of objectives, including search and rescue, illegal fishing, and border surveillance. The drone has also been employed by EU borders agency, Frontex, to surveil migrant crossings in the Mediterranean, with Elbit having been awarded contracts in 2020 and 2022 for the service. In 2020, the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency carried out a £1m trial of Hermes 900 for search and rescue purposes. These partnerships have allowed Elbit to refine weapons of war at the public’s expense, since reports suggest that the drone has been used extensively in IDF attacks on Palestinians. Local variants of the Hermes 900 have also been made. For instance the DRISHTI 10 Starliner is a customised version of the drone made by Indian partner Adani Defence and Aerospace, which will be used in India to monitor its border with Pakistan.

Intelligence 360 (i360), is a database and investigation platform that has been described as a wiretapping system. Modular, scalable and AI-supported, it claims to be able to analyse massive data sets from multiple sources – including social media, personal communication channels, and devices – to highlight or detect “suspicious or intelligence-relevant activities”. Elbit says the system is used by the military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies worldwide. For example, Elbit Systems Deutschland promotes i360 to the German federal and state police, promising it will obviate the problems presented by investigations across state borders. But once again the technology appears beset with issues. Having bought the i360 data platform secretly in 2019, the Dutch government announced that it was still not working five years later, with a Dutch police officer reported as saying, “Elbit sold a system that could do everything. But it can’t do anything or is unworkable.”

Elbit also manufactures several dual-use payloads that integrate with satellites made by IAI, SpaceX, and Imagesat International. These include cameras and optical-imaging products marketed for homeland security, border control, agriculture, environmental monitoring, and surveillance – including military intelligence. Among the customers of these products are the governments of Brazil the, US, and South Korea. IAI’s spy satellite, OPTSAT-300, which uses Elbit cameras, is known to be used by the Italian military, as well as possibly Vietnam’s military intelligence and the Moroccan government.

Partnerships & programmes

One of the ways that Elbit benefits from and steers the development of dual-use tech is through its partnership with iHLS (Israel’s Homeland Security), a private company hosting defence industry events and accelerators. iHLS currently runs two programmes supporting defence startups with a focus on dual-use tech, the first being the iHLS Security Accelerator. This accelerator provides mentorship, networking support, and access to defence and civil markets. Elbit is a sponsor of the programme and has been a board member involved in the applicants’ selection process. Dozens of startups have emerged from this programme, one example being AI-powered video analytics and behavioural recognition company, viisights. Geared towards use in a diverse range of contexts, the technology – which the company says can autonomously identify ‘suspicious’ behaviour such as loitering or face coverings - is already reportedly in use in 12 Israeli cities. It was used by Mexico City police to monitor compliance with Covid-19 distancing rules, is being employed to detect violence on US campuses, and is being used to surveil refugee camps in Greece.

The second of iHLS’ programmes is Innofense, which it runs with Israel’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development. Innofense aims to support startups with “penetration into the defense and civil markets” by providing them with a 200,000 NIS grant (close to £50k), mentoring, and the chance to work with Elbit, IAI or Rafael. The callout for Innofense entrants in July 2025 requires applicants to select the dual-use tech challenges that their work addresses. The list of categories reveals the project’s disturbing visions, including a “system for identifying personality anomalies for behavioural diagnostics”, and “insect use for military purposes”.

Various products have been developed through Innofense which merge surveillance tech with behavioural prediction, opening up some decidedly dystopian opportunities for civil, defence and military agencies. For instance, Faception claims to be developing machine learning technology which can predict personality traits and a person’s potential for criminality based on their face alone. Claiming to be able to identify an “Extrovert, a person with High IQ, Professional Poker Player or a Terrorist’, the tech is marketed at homeland security, border monitoring and ‘smart cities’”.

Incubit Ventures is Elbit’s own, state-sponsored, incubator and investment initiative. Founded in 2012, and part of the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA), Incubit describes itself as a venture capital firm specialising in deep-tech startups.  However, the company has a special interest in exploiting the military potential of civilian industries.  As one company spokesperson put it, “over the past four to five decades, we have witnessed a steady flow of innovative technologies transitioning from the civilian sector to defense applications”, but “many of the technological marvels we use daily can be remodeled to serve a military function”.  One of the incubator’s products is EchoCare, which “delivers radar-based AI-infused surveillance for the elderly, ensuring continuous monitoring in their homes” for early detection in the event of a fall.

According to an EU funding database, Elbit has received more than €5.5m for its participation in EU research and innovation projects. In July 2025, the EU Commission suggested that Israel – which reportedly received over €1.1bn in grants from the Horizon Europe programme between 2021 and 2024 – be partially suspended from the EU initiative, particularly from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator, which works with disruptive, emerging and dual-use tech startups.

Other critical issues

Elbit is well-known for supplying its products to the IDF, which has used them to subjugate Palestinians. Elbit’s most recent financial report boasts of a $2bn revenue and a huge increase of cash flow directly related to the onslaught in Palestine and attacks on Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The company now has a record backlog of orders, totalling $23.8bn, providing “stability and resilience for the company for years to come”. However, Elbit has seen a loss of 35% of contracts from the Global South, due to many governments now refusing to buy from it, linked to its role in the slaughter in Gaza.

Meanwhile in the UK, investigative research organisation Declassified has seen police files which reveal that Elbit Systems UK has its own “intelligence cell” and shares “information with the [UK] police across the country on a two weekly basis”. Elbit met with Keir Starmer’s Labour government ahead of the crackdown on protest group Palestine Action, which had run a campaign of direct action against Elbit in the UK for years. In 2024, John Woodcock, a disgraced former MP and ex-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, authored a 240-page report entitled ‘Protecting our Democracy from Coercion’. It called for a clampdown on “extreme protest groups” such as Palestine Action, and for a broad interpretation of anti-terror laws. The report shows that Woodcock consulted with Elbit UK, which is heavily referenced throughout the document. Eventually, in June 2025, Palestine Action was proscribed, following a campaign which led to the closure of several Elbit factories as well as its London HQ.

People & politics

In August 2025, a whistleblower revealed that former British Army Brigadier Philip Kimber had secretly attended meetings with Elbit within weeks of stepping down from the army, in which he advised the company on how to win a £2bn army training contract. Crucially, these meetings took place during the so-called ‘cooling off’ period, during which contact with UK Ministry of Defence clients is forbidden due to the possibility of gaining commercial advantage. Kimber was also hired by Elbit to deliver the project if the company’s tender were successful. Yet Elbit was found not to have gained any benefit from this, and was able to proceed with its bid for the contract, which has yet to be determined.

Historical examples of the revolving door include a £500m contract facilitated by David Applegate, former Chair of Elbit Systems UK and current Head of Strategy and New Business. In 2012, Applegate was caught bragging about using the consultancy and lobbying firm, The Westminster Connection (TWC) – and its links to Israel and Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) – to secure the contract for Elbit with the UK MoD. Applegate also owns Eagle Strategic Consulting, which reportedly lobbies for defence contracts to the benefit of Elbit and other Israeli arms companies.

Who’s behind the brand?

Chairman Michael Federmann and his family are the beneficial owners of Elbit Systems, with a 45% share of the business, exercised though an intermediary company, Federmann Enterprises Ltd. The family is one of Israel’s wealthiest. Michael Federmann’s fortune has rocketed during the onslaught on Gaza, from $2.9bn in 2023 to over $6.7bn in November 2025. According to financial databases, Elbit’s next largest owners (with 2-3% shareholding each) are Israel-based Clal Financial Management Ltd, and US firm, Vanguard Group Inc.