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Israel to produce its own bombs in bid for arms independence from US — newspaper

Israel plans to mass-produce JDAM guided bombs within two years, aiming for greater self-sufficiency in munitions. The move follows a partial US arms freeze in 2024 and has seen agreements with Elbit Systems and ramped-up production efforts.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Jul 16–17, 2026 Published Aug 14

Lead

Israel is moving to mass-produce its own JDAM guided aerial bombs within two years, a step that could transform its ability to sustain military operations without relying on US supplies. The initiative—ordered by then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in late 2024—has accelerated significantly since, with new production lines and major contracts with Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.

Coverage Comparison

Both The Jerusalem Post and Russia's TASS news agency reported on the development, though with slightly different emphases. The Jerusalem Post, which first reported the story, frames it as a consequence of the Biden administration's partial arms freeze in May 2024 and describes it as a "revolution" in Israel's warfare capabilities. TASS, citing The Jerusalem Post, presents the move in more cautious terms, noting that Israel already produces some guidance kits but remains far from full independence.

Neither outlet provided specific technical details or production volumes, but both quote Israeli Defense Ministry officials describing the push as a response to lessons learned from recent conflicts.

Key Claims

Israel intends to produce JDAM bombs en masse within two years, according to The Jerusalem Post. The JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) is a guidance kit that converts unguided "dumb bombs" into precision-guided munitions usable in all weather conditions.

The decision to start producing more Israeli-made bombs came in late 2024, following orders from then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and recommendations from a commission led by Jacob Turkel. This followed the Biden administration's partial arms freeze on certain bombs to Israel in May 2024, which was linked to differences over the IDF's Rafah operation in Gaza.

The initial goal was to become more independent in producing dumb bombs, but the effort expanded in 2025-2026 to include smarter bombs like JDAMs.

In January 2025, the Defense Ministry signed two major agreements with Elbit Systems totaling approximately NIS 1 billion, aimed at strengthening the IDF's self-sufficiency in munitions and raw materials. The Jerusalem Post also reported that a multi-year order for air munitions from Elbit Systems, valued at about NIS 570 million, was part of this strategic push.

By November 2025, the Defense Ministry announced that over 120,000 tons of military equipment and munitions had been transferred to Israel via 1,000 aircraft and 150 maritime vessels, mostly from the US, according to Defense Ministry director-general Amir Baram.

Munitions production was ramped up during the recent conflicts with Lebanon and Iran, and the ministry has also increased funding for Arrow missile production through sales to Germany, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.

Baram said the ministry has been focusing on aerial munitions production. "We are now working to replenish all munitions expended to be prepared for any scenario," he told the newspaper. "The decisions we made to expand and accelerate production lines in Israel before the operation will now allow us to take production rates to the next level."

Israel already produces its own kits that convert dumb bombs into precision weapons, but according to The Jerusalem Post, the volume is nowhere near what would be needed for full independence.

How each outlet told it

Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC

Framing: Israel's push for independence in weapons production — Informative and objective

Facts Included:

Israel aims to produce its own JDAM bombs en masse within two years
Former defense minister Yoav Gallant ordered the production of more Israeli-made bombs in late 2024
The Biden administration imposed a partial arms freeze on certain bombs to Israel in May 2024
The Defense Ministry signed agreements with Elbit Systems to strengthen the IDF's self-sufficiency and operational readiness
Over 120,000 tons of military equipment were transferred to Israel via 1,000 aircraft and 150 maritime vessels
The Defense Ministry issued a multi-year order for air munitions manufactured by Elbit Systems valued at approximately NIS 570 million
Munitions production was ramped up during the war with Lebanon and Iran
The Defense Ministry increased Arrow production funds through sales to Germany

Read the source article →

TASS — English as of Jul 17, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC

Framing: Israel's plans to reduce dependence on US arms supplies — Informative and objective

Facts Included:

Israel plans to establish its own mass production of JDAM guided aerial bombs within two years
Israel started producing more of its own bombs in late 2024 under orders from then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
The decision was prompted by the partial embargo imposed by the Biden administration on certain types of arms sales to Israel in May 2024
The Israeli Defense Ministry is focusing on the production of aerial munitions
Israel already produces its own kits that convert 'dumb bombs' into precision weapons

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimIsrael aims to produce its own JDAM bombs en masse within two years.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimFormer defense minister Yoav Gallant ordered the production of more Israeli-made bombs in late 2024.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe Biden administration imposed a partial arms freeze on certain bombs to Israel in May 2024.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe Defense Ministry signed agreements with Elbit Systems to strengthen the IDF's self-sufficiency and operational readiness.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC
ClaimOver 120,000 tons of military equipment were transferred to Israel via 1,000 aircraft and 150 maritime vessels.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC
ClaimThe Defense Ministry issued a multi-year order for air munitions manufactured by Elbit Systems valued at approximately NIS 570 million.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC
ClaimMunitions production was ramped up during the war with Lebanon and Iran.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe Defense Ministry increased Arrow production funds through sales to Germany.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 3:00 PM UTC
ClaimIsrael already produces its own kits that convert 'dumb bombs' into precision weapons.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jul 17, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 articles consulted: Jerusalem Post, TASS — English 9 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-14