Bombs in Palestine dropped from F-15s with components supplied by Leonardo

“We do not sell a single bolt to Israel”, declared the CEO of Italian arms giant Leonardo, Roberto Cingolani, to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. However, documents accessed by Il Fatto Quotidiano demonstrate that in 2024 and 2025, when the ongoing extermination of the civilian population of Gaza was undeniable, the Leonardo’s electronics division, its factory in Montevarchi – province of Arezzo, Tuscany – supplied components for the F-15 fighter jets to Israel.

Although F-15 aircraft were built decades ago, their use against the Gaza population, both before and after October 7, 2023, has been documented by reputable Israeli media. International weapons expert Andrew Feinstein tells Il Fatto Quotidiano that the F-15 is “One of the most widely used jets in the bombing of Gaza. It is one of the three jets most used by Israel along with the F-16 and F-35. It is able to carry the 2000-pound bombs that have been used extensively and caused such extreme devastation”. Leonardo was mentioned in the report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, entitled “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide.”

The documents in Il Fatto’s possession were shared with our newspaper and with a group of international journalists by the Irish online media outlet The Ditch. They are important because they contain data such as descriptions of the goods and, above all, they allow understanding whether their provision predates or postdates October 7, 2023. This kind of information is often inaccessible in datasets like the ISTAT database on exports, either because classified or because the data is in aggregated form. In the case of Leonardo’s 76 mm Super Rapid naval gun, for example, the Italian research institute Archivio Disarmo concluded that they were supplied in 2022 and in 2023. But a researcher with Archivio Disarmo, Matteo Taucci, explains to Il Fatto Quotidiano that “for 2023 there is no way to know whether they were supplied after October 7, since the ISTAT data is secret”.

The documents accessed by Il Fatto reveal that the goods supplied by Leonardo to Israel are components of the so-called Head Up Display (HUD) of the F-15. The fighter jet, produced by Boeing, has over 250 buttons in the cockpit, but everything the pilots need is on a screen positioned in front of them: the Head-Up Display. The documentation indicates that the goods were picked up at the Montevarchi factory and shipped to Israel on at least two occasions: in December 2024 and in March 2025.

They were shipped via a civilian flight – El Al LY386 – from the civilian airport of Rome Fiumicino. Contacted by Il Fatto Quotidiano, Leonardo initially declined to answer, then confirmed that its Montevarchi factory had received “from the Israeli firm Elop, part of Elbit, orders for the development and supply of 144 control panels for a device called Head Up Display”. Elbit is Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, and one of 15 companies identified by Amnesty International for their role in illegal occupation and genocide.

Leonardo replied to Il Fatto that Elop integrates the control panel into the Head Up Display system and supplies it to Elbit USA, which in turn “manufactures the complete assemblies and supplies them to aircraft manufacturer Boeing”, adding that the 144 control panels were requested by the Israeli company between August 2018 and November 2022 and “were delivered between February 2019 and April 2024, subject to regular export authorizations.” Between 2019 to 2024, however, Israel’s position changed radically, and by April 2024 the massacre in Gaza had been underway for months.

Leonardo emphasized to Il Fatto that “Leonardo is in complete compliance with national and international laws regarding the sale of weapons to Israel.” In an explanatory note, the company specified that the two shipments in December 2024 and March 2025, documented in the files in our newspaper’s possession, concerned two front panels for which Elbit Israel had requested warranty repairs in October and November 2024, and that “the customer arranged to ship them using its own means.”

Finally, Leonardo added: “Hoping to have contributed to re-establishing the truth of the facts, which in no way link Leonardo to the Israeli-Palestinian events, we underline once again our total extraneousness, therefore any possible further association with the accusations of genocide and non-compliance with the laws will be considered damaging to the interests and reputation of the group, which intends to defend its position, protecting its rights in the relevant forums”.