A manufacturer of industrial robots that are used to produce weapons, including in Israel.
Fanuc Corporation is the world’s third largest producer of industrial robots, with 11% of the global market share. The company’s robots are integrated into the assembly lines of some of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers, such as BAE Systems, GE Aerospace, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and RTX.
During the 2023-2025 Gaza genocide, visual evidence surfaced of a Fanuc robot in the assembly line of weapons used in the genocide. A video posted by the Israeli Ministry of Defense on January 29, 2024, shows a Fanuc robot making 155mm artillery shells. The video caption reads: “Elbit Systems’ assembly line for tank and artillery shells has been working nonstop since October 7 and has already supplied large amounts of munitions to the deployed forces.”
In addition, the Israeli military itself uses Fanuc machines. The Israeli Ministry of Defense, which handles all procurement for the military, awarded two contracts in December 2023 and May 2024, worth a combined $307,000, for the maintenance of "machining machines with Fanuc controls." This likely refers to Fanuc's line of computer numerical control (CNC) machines, which have many manufacturing applications. These contracts were listed in a database that records only unclassified contracts that were awarded without a public tender process. This database did not provide any additional information on these contracts, so it is unclear if they were awarded directly to Fanuc, through its Israeli subsidiary, or to another company that can maintain these machines. It is also unclear how the Israeli military uses these machines, as it manufactures multiple weapons systems in-house.
Other Israeli weapon manufacturers use Fanuc robots. This includes the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, at its MALAM factory that makes missiles and rockets, and Israeli company Bet Shemesh Engines, which is a major contractor of the Israeli Air Force.
Responding to mounting criticism over its involvement in the genocide, Fanuc conducted an internal review of its records since 2020 and distanced itself from this activity, stating: “we have not sold any products for military use” to Israeli companies “from our company or our European subsidiary.” However, the company conceded that it also sells through intermediaries and is "not always able to guarantee who the final customer is” in these cases. Moreover, Fanuc admitted to routinely selling its robots to U.S. weapons manufacturers and said nothing about what it might have sold to Israeli companies before 2020.