Published in partnership with Irish investigative news site The Ditch
Last June, activists from Palestine Action stormed a weapons factory in Kent, breaking through the security perimeter and allegedly causing over £1 million worth of damage.
Instro Precision, a subsidiary of Israel’s largest arms firm Elbit Systems, had been hit hard.
The company produces equipment which helps troops and vehicles to select targets. It has received scores of export licences to Israel, leading activists to believe its products have been used in ground operations in Gaza.
Ten activists were charged for ordinary criminal offences following the action. Yet they appeared to be vindicated when, two days after the action in Kent, an Instro Precision arms export licences to Israel was stopped by the government.
Palestine Action’s Huda Ammori told Declassified: “The Instro10 managed to stop an export of arms to Israel, potentially saving lives in Palestine.”
But last week, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) took a very different view, and suddenly alleged there was also a “terrorism connection” under Section 69 of the Sentencing Act.
Ammori reacted defiantly: “The public know full well that the real crimes being perpetrated are occupation, apartheid, and genocide”.
New evidence reviewed exclusively by Declassified and The Ditch appears to vindicate her position, as cargo documents now confirm Instro Precision has been shipping targeting equipment to Israel amid the Gaza genocide.
The data shows how the company sent military tripods, tripod support systems, radar kits, and aerial reflectors to Elbit factories in Israel between November 2023 and May 2025. These items can be used by soldiers to select and eliminate targets.
All of the goods were transported via Heathrow Airport to Tel Aviv on flights operated by El Al, Israel’s main airline.
Four of the shipments occurred last month, showing how targeting equipment is being shipped to Israel even after the Labour government’s arms restrictions last September.
Ammori told Declassified: “This appears to be direct proof that Israel’s biggest weapons firm is using its British sites to fuel the genocide in Gaza. When our government fails to act, it’s a moral imperative for citizens to take direct action to stop Israel’s military supply chain themselves”.
Instro Precision was approached for comment.
Instro Precision
Eight of the shipments from Instro Precision were sent to Elbit’s Elisra site in Holon, while the ninth was transported to another Elbit site in Karmiel, Israel.
Elisra manufactures “comprehensive solutions in the electromagnetic spectrum domain” for “electronic warfare (EW), spectrum control, communications, and Signal Intelligence”.
The first shipment, dispatched on 30 November 2023, contained two groundmaster tripods with a combined weight of 145kg.
The applications of this tripod, according to Instro Precision, include “multifunction motorised surveillance platform support”, “dismounted radar support”, “thermal camera/night vision systems”, and “long-range observation posts”.
The next three shipments, sent in December 2023, were for “tripod support and parts” and “spare parts”, with a massive combined weight of at least 1.8 tonnes.
Tripods manufactured by Instro Precision are designed to “minimise burden on the soldier” and are “easily deployable even on rough terrain”. They can carry payloads of over 250kg and mount radar systems for “precision targeting”.
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‘Radar kits’
Four other shipments were sent from Instro Precision to Israel last month.
Three of those were for “tripod support systems” while the fourth was for “radar kits”, likely meaning portable radar systems used by military forces to detect and track targets for elimination.
Another shipment of “aerial reflectors and parts” was sent from Instro Precision to Elbit’s Elisra site this week, weighing 55kg. Aerial reflectors are components of radar systems, and have been listed by the UK government as “goods of strategic concern”.
It is difficult to see how these shipments square with Britain’s arms restrictions on Israel, which were announced by the Labour government in September 2024.
That month, UK foreign secretary David Lammy told parliament that “around 30” arms export licences had been revoked for “components which go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones”.
The restrictions also covered “items which facilitate ground targeting”, with Britain’s strategic export guidance specifically listing “target acquisition, weapon control and countermeasure systems” as controlled items.
Remarkably, however, the shipping documents indicate that Instro Precision did not require an export licence to ship targeting equipment to Israel over recent weeks. They are marked with the acronym “NLR”, meaning No Licence Required.
A spokesperson for Britain’s department for business and trade told Declassified: “In September we suspended certain export licences to Israel for military items that could be used by Israel in military operations in Gaza…
“The need for an export licence for military goods is set out in the Export Control Order 2008, and all licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against our strict Strategic Export Licencing Criteria”.
To this end, Instro Precision’s shipments to Israel raise further questions about how strict Britain’s export controls really are.
Last month, Declassified revealed how UK firm RCV Engines is supplying engines for Israel’s new killer quadcopters without apparently needing any export licence.
And earlier this week, a major report by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International, and Workers for a Free Palestine exposed how thousands of military goods have been sent from Britain to Israel since Labour’s arms suspensions.
