An Israeli delegation of 20 companies is taking part in the biennial DSEI international defense exhibition in Japan. Seven of the companies are participating through SIBAT, the International Defense Cooperation directorate at Israel’s Ministry of Defense, and eight of the companies are startups led by the Ministry of Defense Directorate of Defense R&D (DDR&D).
This year’s exhibition is double the size of the 2023 event, and SIBAT head Brig. Gen. (res.) Yair Kulas tells Globes that the exhibition shows how much Tokyo has become a strategic destination for Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
“We came here for the first time in 2023. It is aimed at Asia-Pacific and it is obvious how much it has grown,” says Kulas. “About five years ago, we defined Japan as a breakthrough country in the Ministry of Defense, and since then the investment has been continuous. That investment has proven itself, because the export data indicate an increase from annual exports to Japan of tens of millions of dollars, to hundreds of millions. Part of this is due to our industries understanding the necessary change, and this has led to success.”
Israeli Companies at the Exhibition#
Among the companies appearing in the SIBAT pavilion are:
- Orbit Technologies - provides advanced air and sea communications systems and satellite tracking
- Xtend - develops and manufactures AI-based drone systems
- Steadicopter - provides unmanned aerial systems with real-time intelligence and precision attack capabilities
- MagnaBSD - developed AI-based video analysis for military surveillance and critical infrastructure protection
The DDR&D pavilion features:
- Resight - developed augmented reality solutions enabling continuous multi-participant experiences
- Next-Dim - developed a network analysis platform for financial sector, money laundering prevention, and fraud detection
- Sealartec - developed autonomous launch systems for fully automated collection of marine vehicles in sea conditions
Combat Proven Advantage#
SIBAT’s head stresses that Israel’s systems have proven themselves on the battlefield, and being “Combat Proven” is one of the major advantages of the Israeli defense industry. “Many countries are looking for this. Our industry is amazing, creative and proactive, while the Japanese love technology, and playing with technology. They are interested in everything from Israel. We came with the DDR&D startups, and they are thrilled by Israeli technology.”
Strong Defense Relationship#
“The relationship has lasted many years. The directors general of the Ministry of Defense have come, as has Benny Gantz. The departments of the ministry are coming to Japan, and everyone is involved from the moment we made a decision on breaking into the country.”
Local Manufacturing Trend#
A major challenge that SIBAT is facing across the board is the desire of countries around the world to manufacture in their own countries. One such country is Japan, and Kulas defines this as a “serious trend.” He says, “This is a change that is becoming more pronounced, and we understand that we must adapt ourselves. If in the past we said in G2G (government-to-government) contacts that a deal must be 100% production in Israel, we understood that there would be no deals if we did not agree to about 20%-30% local production.”
Working with Japanese Culture#
“We use every exhibition for meetings, but now I am focused on the Japanese, on the large corporations, on the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Homeland Security. Before we arrived, we had a day last week to work with the companies on business, commercial and personal culture, what to do and not to do, respecting the culture. We ourselves are very careful and work with local trading companies. It is important to meet with end users and corporations, but these are companies that do business with them. The Japanese will not make a deal without a local company.”
In October, the Ministry of Defense will also attend a significant air show in Seoul. On this, Kulas says, “Seoul is an industrial hub like Japan, and we must be there. Our industry connects with South Korea, they produce a platform and we produce radar. The by-products on the Korean platforms are beneficial to both sides, because they appeal to other markets. This is a need for our industries.”
Source: Globes
