The UK government is coming under mounting pressure not to award a £2 billion contract for the British Army's "Collective Training Transformation Programme" to Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE:ESLT), "The Financial Times" reports. The paper writes, "Ministers are under pressure not to award a £2bn military contract to a consortium that includes defence company Elbit Systems UK, whose Israeli parent boasts that its products are "battle tested", and consultancy Bain & Co, which was previously on a UK government blacklist."
The FT adds, "The Ministry of Defence is expected in the next two months to announce a preferred bidder for the 15-year contract to overhaul UK armed forces training, but is facing political heat over one of the two shortlisted bids."
Lord Hain of the ruling Labor party condemned the inclusion of Elbit in the contract due to the fighting in Gaza and in a letter to Defense Secretary John Healey seen by the FT he wrote that the possibility of Elbit winning the contract was deeply troubling, "given the devastation unfolding in Gaza," and added that public contracts, "should reflect the highest standards of integrity, probity, and accountability."
In response to Lord Hain's letter, the UK government said, "There are robust processes in place to ensure government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently. This includes defence contracts and any use of international firms."
Last week the UK government announced that Israeli government officias would not be permitted to participate in next week's DSEI UK 2025 defense industry exhibition in London.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 2, 2025.
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