Palestine Action again takes direct action against an arms factory, bringing this war home to those who both enable and profit from it. This time, they target West Yorkshire’s Teledyne UK factory:
This morning, Palestine Action occupied the Shipley factory of Teledyne Defence and Space, halting activity at the site from which vast exports of military electronics and munitions components are made to Israel each year. Breaching security, the activists have scaled the factory to take the roof, forcing the site closed and rendering it unable to fulfil its shipment of weapons parts to be used in the Gaza genocide.
The site, between 2009 and 2014, was granted at least 86 licenses for the export of weapons to Israel – mostly for ‘ML11’-category military electronics equipment and ‘ML4’ category explosive weapons, munitions, or parts therefor. After 2014, the company’s sales and licensing were handled by the parent company ‘Teledyne UK’, which continued to export vast quantities of ML4 and ML11 weapons to Israel as part of its 48 export licenses granted between 2014 and 2020.
The American company Teledyne has a $5.6bn yearly turnover and is, along with its subsidiary ev2, the largest exporter (by volume of licenses granted) of weaponry from Britain to Israel. A significant proportion of the company’s almost 200 export licenses for weapons and weapons parts to the US, 2009-2020, will also form into finished products ultimately exported to Israel.
Teledyne Defence and Space, Shipley, manufactures critical components for missile systems – specifically missile filters – which will comprise the ML4 exports made yearly from the site. Teledyne Defence and Space boasts of its involvement with missile products procured by Israel, including the AGM-Harpoon, AIM-120 AMRAAM, and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles deployed by Israel against Gaza – the latter reportedly being used to strike Al-Shifa hospital. Teledyne Defence and Space also produces components for the American’s Tomahawk and Patriot missiles, deployed by US forces against Yemen.
The site also produces parts, including filters and multi-function assemblies, for UAVs (drones), aircraft, and radar systems, including the AN/APG-81 (AESA) type fitted in Lockheed Martin F-35 Fighter jets. Teledyne Defence and Space, solely based in Shipley, has sales representatives in Tel Aviv. Shipley-made products can be seen advertised by Ormic Components, the sales company for the Israeli military market.
Teledyne, the parent company, also produces image sensors for military applications and radar technologies around the borders of the occupied West Bank and Gaza while also providing armed UAVs to Israel as far back as 1973. This is not the first time Palestine Action has struck at a Teledyne site, having dismantled its Presteigne, Wales, ‘Teledyne Labtech’ factory in 2022 and causing £1m in losses.
Images: Milo Chandler / http://IMDmilo.com
