On Monday, March 30, 2026, Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced on social media that the Directorate of Production and Procurement (DPD) had signed a contract worth more than 150 million NIS with domestic company Elbit Systems for the delivery of another batch of tens of thousands of 155 mm artillery shells.
Photos: Israeli Ministry of Defense via Elbit Systems
The contract was signed on behalf of the customer by the deputy head of the DPD’s Ground Procurement Division. The ammunition will be delivered to the Artillery Corps of the Israel Defense Forces.
The ammunition will be manufactured at Elbit facilities across the country, which employ thousands of workers and are operating at an increased pace in a three-shift system, in accordance with the requirements of Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
The ammunition contract is a pillar of the Ministry of Defense strategy promoted by Defense Minister Israel Katz and the Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, aimed at strengthening defense self-sufficiency and expanding Israel’s domestic defense industrial base.
Elbit Systems produces a wide range of conventional 155 mm ammunition: M107-A3 HE high-explosive shells with a range of 22.5–27 km, M401 HE-ER-BB with a range of 28–36 km, M481 HE-ER-BT with a range of up to 31 km, M489 HE-ER-BB with a range of up to 40 km, and M454 S-HE, a prefragmented shell with a drag parachute, with a range of 22–28 km, as well as M150 smoke shells with a range of 22 km fitted with the M910 ETFA fuze. The company also offers the Silver Bullet precision-guidance kit for standard ammunition and the BMACS (Bi-Modular Artillery Charge System) two-module propelling charge system.
Earlier, on July 31, 2023, the company received an order on this matter worth about 60 million USD. That contract covered M107-A3 rounds.
The Israeli Artillery Corps operates about 600 tracked M109A2 Doher self-propelled howitzers, based on the American M109A5, and about 300 towed Soltam M-71 guns; both systems are equipped with 39-caliber guns. In addition, about 50 self-propelled Soltam M-68 systems remain in reserve.
The successors to the M109A2 Doher are to be the wheeled, autonomous Roem howitzers produced by Elbit Systems, with the export version designated SIGMA. The first example was tested by the military in June 2024 and was officially delivered in December of the same year. Production of further units is currently underway. The first fully reequipped unit is to be the 405th Battalion of the 282nd Artillery Brigade, which is expected to achieve full operational capability in autumn 2026. The gradual reequipment of all battalions is to be completed by 2030.
התעצמות תוך כדי לחימה: משרד הביטחון רוכש מחברת ׳אלביט מערכות׳ עשרות אלפי חימושי יבשה בהיקף של למעלה מ-150 מיליון שקלים.
להמשך קריאה:https://t.co/aOs7ZxzaxM pic.twitter.com/lYg16An4eN
— משרד הביטחון (@MoDIsrael) March 30, 2026
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