MESOP MIDEAST WATCH: NEW NATO COUNTRIES ARMED BY ISRAEL Finland and Sweden eye Israeli defense systems: Sources

The new talks come after a spate of other deals were already made public.

By   ARIE EGOZIon May 16, 2022 TIMES OF ISRAEL –  TEL AVIV:

Finland and Sweden’s now professed intention to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already spurred talks between those governments and Israel about purchasing advanced Israel defense systems and weapons, according to defense sources here.

Both nations were already customers of Israeli defense firms, but the move towards NATO has accelerated negotiations, and new deals are being discussed, sources said.

A spokesperson for the Israeli ministry of defense declined to comment for this report, only saying, “as a rule, we do not discuss negotiations about arms deals.”

The potential deals come as Finland and Sweden brace for some form of retaliation from Russia over the expected NATO bids. Ironically, Russia used NATO’s expansion as one pretext for its Ukrainian misadventure.

Sources say the two nations are considering Israeli radars, anti-tank systems and active protection systems for their armored ground platforms. A senior Israeli defense source told Breaking Defense that all the Israeli defense systems use Link 16 communication protocol, in line with US and NATO systems, making interoperability a non-issue.

The talks follow a spate of announced deals or deals in progress between Israel and the Scandinavian nations.