Aircraft

For its first 50 years, Israel's aerospace industry was effectively an arm of the state, providing a means of defence from hostile neighbours and jobs for a fast-growing population. While self-preservation remains paramount, a liberalising breeze is blowing through the economy, with moves towards loosening government's grip on the sector and consolidating the industry. A burgeoning small-entrepreneurial sector is also bringing to market a host of high-tech aviation products. In the following report, we profile Israel's main aerospace players - including IAI and Elbit Systems - look at the technology requirements of its armed forces and discover why a country of seven million people punches above its weight in areas as diverse as unmanned air systems, airliner cargo conversions and missile technology

• IAI 
• Stark Aerospace
• Elbit
• Air force
• Unmanned systems
• Bedek 
• Business jets
• Small businesses
• Rafael
• El Al