Israel Weapons Industry expands into Southeast Asia with Thailand’s deployment of counter-drone system

JERUSALEM — Small arms manufacturer Israel Weapons Industry is expanding its reach into Southeast Asia with four nations “currently at different stages of the procurement process” for its ARBEL Anti-Drone System, the company recently told Breaking Defense.  

“We are seeing strong demand for our platforms and systems across the region,” the company said in response to questions about its growth strategy for southern Asia, where “countering the growing drone threat is one of the most pressing concerns our customers are raising.” 

ARBEL is currently available for AR-15-type platforms, light machine guns and as an anti-drone system. This means soldiers can use it on existing rifle platforms they are already familiar with. It is also “optics-agnostic,” the company noted in an October statement.

Most recently, IWI, which is part of Israel’s SK Group, delivered the ARBEL ADS to Thailand’s Ministry of Defense, the company shared in an Oct. 22 statement.

“Following integration into its existing rifles and on-site training by IWI, the ARBEL ADS has been deployed and is now operational for day and night use,” the company said at the time. 

As seen in the Ukraine-Russia war and the conflict between the US and Israel and Iran, small drone threats have been increasing, leading countries to seek out their own drone and counter-drone systems.  

In the October statement, SK Group Vice President Doron Korol noted: “As Southeast Asian militaries place greater emphasis on counter-drone capabilities, Thailand’s adoption of ARBEL ADS reflects this growing operational priority. We see rising demand across the region for solutions that can help soldiers meet this challenge.” 

SK Group’s Vice Chairman Ronen Hamudot added that “small tactical drones have become a direct and growing threat to soldiers on the battlefield.”

“While each country is moving at its own pace, the level of engagement reflects a broader shift in defense priorities across the region and the growing recognition that counter-drone capabilities are essential to modern military operations,” IWI said in last month’s statement.

Thailand integrated the system by replacing the lower receiver of existing rifles with the Arbel ADS system. “This approach enables militaries to upgrade their existing platforms locally without replacing their rifle inventories or procuring entirely new weapons,” IWI noted in its October statement.

IWI also said there are discussions with Thailand about additional orders. 

In response to questions from Breaking Defense, the company said “This year alone, we conducted several ARBEL ADS demonstrations in Southeast Asian countries, reflecting growing interest in effective counter-drone solutions. Thailand’s deployment represents an important milestone, and we see significant potential to build on this momentum across the region.”

The company declined to disclose which other three Asian nations are in the process of procuring ARBEL systems. However, IWI told Breaking Defense that “the threat posed by small tactical drones is not confined to any one region, and Asian militaries face an increasingly complex security environment that includes terrorism, cross-border smuggling and the growing use of drones for hostile attacks.” 

The company further pointed to “recent drone-related hostilities along the Cambodia-Thailand border” as underscoring the emerging threats in the region.

IWI unveiled ARBEL in April 2024, and called it the “world’s first-ever revolutionary computerized small arms system” that was “poised to re-defined combat effectiveness.”