Israel's Defense R&D Directorate Preps Tender for 20,000 Israeli-Made Drones, Cutting Ties with China

The Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), part of Israel's Ministry of Defense, is preparing a tender worth hundreds of millions of shekels for the procurement of roughly 20,000 Israeli-made military drones, Globes reported today. The procurement, spread over five years, includes both attack drones and reconnaissance/intelligence drones, and comes amid a policy decision to cut ties with Chinese suppliers following lessons learned from the war in Gaza.

DDR&D Launches Flagship Tender for Domestic Self-Sufficiency

DDR&D, the Ministry of Defense's research and development arm, is currently putting together a large-scale tender for a massive quantity of drones made exclusively in Israel. The financial scope is estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels, making it one of the largest drone tenders ever published in Israel. The procurement won't happen all at once, but will be spread across several years, allowing the local industry to scale up gradually and meet its commitments.

Among the companies expected to compete for the tender are several of the most prominent names in Israel's drone industry, including relatively young startups that have gained significant combat experience in recent months.

• Planned procurement volume: approximately 20,000 drones
• Rollout period: five years
• Tender value: hundreds of millions of shekels
• Drone types: attack and reconnaissance/intelligence
• Expected competing companies: Xtend, Heven Drones, Dronix, Robotican, Tehiru, CopterPix

From Dependence on China to a Domestic Industry?

Until about a year ago, a significant portion of the commercial drones the IDF used for various field missions were made in China. The current move signals a deliberate policy shift rather than a one-time event. The fighting in Gaza, which erupted following Hamas's murderous terror attack on October 7, 2023, exposed the IDF's immediate need for large quantities of available and reliable drones, while simultaneously highlighting the operational and intelligence risks of depending on Chinese supply chains.

The result is a policy that emphasizes self-sufficiency as much as possible, even if it comes at a higher cost in the short term. The key question that remains open is whether the local industry can deliver such a volume at the pace and quality required, without causing delays or compromising performance.

The First Step: The FPV Tender Already Underway

This large tender didn't emerge in a vacuum. It follows a separate, more focused tender published by the IDF's ground forces earlier this year for the procurement of 5,000 Israeli-made FPV (First Person View) attack drones. That tender, significantly smaller in scope than the new one, was won by Xtend.

Xtend's win shows that Israeli industry is already proving itself in the field, not just on paper. Credit is due to the Israeli entrepreneurs developing attack and reconnaissance solutions here under extraordinary time constraints and operational pressure, at a time when other countries are only beginning to formulate a similar doctrine.

What's at Stake for Israeli Industry?

A tender of 20,000 units, even if these are lightweight drones rather than complex platforms, represents a substantial injection of orders for Israeli drone companies. For startups like Dronix, Robotican, Tehiru and CopterPix, this is a potential leap forward in production and employment, provided the companies can meet the military's requirements for reliability, durability and operational compatibility.

• Source of report: Globes, August 21, 2024
• Lead entity: DDR&D, Ministry of Defense
• Immediate background: Gaza war, which erupted on October 7, 2023
• Related prior tender: 5,000 FPV drones, won by Xtend

No official timeline has yet been set for publishing the full tender or for the actual start of deliveries. Details such as precise performance requirements, per-unit pricing and the number of companies that will ultimately be selected have also not yet been disclosed.