The Palestine Action group says it has forced the closure of the Elbit Ferranti electronic weapons plant in Oldham, after a sustained campaign of direct action made it unsustainable.
A statement released by the group reads:
– Palestine Action’s sustained campaign of direct action against Elbit Ferranti in Oldham proves ultimately successful as Elbit sell the subsidiary and pack their bags.
– The Power and Control Business of Ferranti Technologies has been sold to TT Electronics, as Elbit undertake huge business restructuring after over a year of targetted action taken at the Oldham site.
– Occupations of the site have caused weeks of forced factory closure, and have cost millions in damages to the company. At the end of November 2021, Elbit began packing up their Oldham operation – now the majority of the Ferranti business has been sold off.
– Palestine Action: “Direct action works – the brave individuals who occupied the factory over the past year can proudly say that drone technologies are no longer in production in Oldham”.After 18 months of sustained direct action taken at the Elbit Ferranti site in Oldham, Greater Manchester, with 36 people arrested, Elbit have now sold Ferranti technologies, with its continued operation in Oldham appearing unfeasible. Activists have occupied, blockaded, smashed, disrupted, and protested regularly at the site, ultimately succeeding in ending the factory’s production of specialist military technologies for Israel’s fleet of combat drones.
In November 2021, anonymous sources revealed to Palestine Action that mass redundancy notices had been issued to staff working at the factory, and that premises were being cleared in preparation for Elbit leaving the site. Today, it was publicised that Ferranti has indeed been sold to TT Electronics, a British electronics firm. This major restructuring – selling a subsidiary which Elbit has consistently promoted as a success and which has helped Elbit to land multi-million pound contracts with the British government – suggests that Elbit is under significant pressure to tighten its UK operations. This is most likely due to the impossibility of continuing at the often-occupied site, the massive financial impact of occupations, and an attempt to avoid more bad publicity.
Early in 2021, Elbit attempted to make the Oldham factory a viable production site by improving security. Elbit increased spending massively for round-the-clock security, and also benefitted from a rapid police response for protestor removal. Neither of these measures succeeded in keeping out activists, with the site continuing to be targetted regularly.
The first action taken in Oldham by Palestine Action, in late August 2020, involved spraying premises in blood-red paint, symbolising the Palestinian bloodshed made possible with Elbit Ferranti technologies. Following this, actions accelerated. Windows were smashed in an occupation in November 2020, while an action taken in collaboration with XR North in February 2021 caused over £20,000 in damages. In April 2021, activists not only occupied the site but gained entry to the factoy, smashing the roof, windows, air vents, and undermining future operations by covering equipment and computers in red paint – over £100,000 of damages were caused, and the site remained shut for well over a week. On July 5th, three activists gained entry to the site, allegedly causing £500,000 of damage and closing the factory for a number of weeks. More recently, in August of this year, activists blockaded the factory – blocking roads with vehcles and locking onto gates – and occupied the factory itself again. There have been a number of other actions taken at the Oldham site, with the factory forced to closed for a significant number of weeks in total due to damage caused.
The site has also been subject to regular protests called by Oldham Peace and Justice and Manchester Palestine Action, with large crowds gathering outside the factory on a weekly basis since the massive and brutal bombardments of Gaza by Israel in May. Sustained pressure, through both protests and an extended campaign of effective direct action, has generated immense challenges for Elbit, who have now sold the subsidiary and left the site.
A Palestine Action spokesperson has stated:
“The sale of Ferranti and the closure of the Oldham factory is a huge victory for the movement. So far, our actions have undermined and disrupted operations – but this news vindicates our long-term strategy. Direct action works – the brave individuals who occupied the factory over the past year can proudly say that drone technologies are no longer in production in Oldham. But its not enough that just one of these death-factories shuts down. We want to see Elbit itself shut down for good, and all of their businesses forced out of Britain – we will keep escalating our actions until that happens.”
This site had been targeted due to the crimes committed against Palestinian civilians using Elbit Ferranti products. The Oldham factory was used for the manufacture of specialist military products and technology, including the SkEye persistent surveillance system aboard Elbit’s Hermes 450 and 900 drones. Ferranti also manufacture the SpectroXR ultra long-range imaging system for Hermes drones. Hermes drones have been used extensively by Israel in bombardments of Gaza, notably during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 in which over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, including 526 children. The site was also used for the production of IronVision helmets for use in battle tanks such as the Carmel – specficially designed for operations in densely built urban areas, such as Gaza.
A statement on the Ferranti Technologies news page says that the business has been restructured as a prelude to further expansion of its UK operations, but the list of remaining activities appears not to include manufacture of drone surveillance systems, while images shown in the article show training simulators:
Elbit Systems Reorganizes UK Activities
Sells Ferranti’s Power and Control Business
Haifa, Israel, January 10, 2022 – Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT and TASE: ESLT) (“Elbit Systems” or the “Company”) announced today that its UK subsidiary, Elbit Systems UK Ltd. (“Elbit Systems UK”), has sold the Power and Control Business of its subsidiary Ferranti Technologies Ltd. (“Ferranti”), to TT Electronics (UK) Plc. (LSE: TTG.L) for approximately $12 million (approximately £9 million) in cash, subject to customary post-completion working capital adjustments.
The remaining business of Ferranti, including training and simulation, avionics, display systems, aircrew survival systems, platform protection and computing, are planned to be integrated into Elbit Systems UK.
Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems UK, said: “This reorganization is part of our strategy to focus activities on certain areas in order to support the continuous expansion of our operations and collaborations in the UK.”
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