Moog, an American weapons corporation with more than a dozen sites across the UK, produces components for the F-35 “genocide jet”. Moog is also involved in the Trident D5 nuclear missile programme.
As well, Moog produces components for the M-346 Lavi trainer aircraft. The M-346 is the final stage of training aircraft used by Israeli forces before they fly the deadly F-16s and F-35s. Moog and Martin-Baker, a British company also involved in both the F-35 and M-346 supply chains, have held export licences to Israel throughout the Gaza genocide after the September 2024 partial export licence suspension was implemented.
An Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) was further issued during the fourth quarter of 2025, for components for military training aircraft for transfer to France, Greece, Israel or Italy. This licence is likely to be used by Moog, for the M-346 trainer aircraft.
Where is the accountability?
In April 2026 it was revealed that Belgian authorities seized a shipment of military goods exported from the UK, which were in transit to Israel. Belgium has much stricter export licensing controls on Israel than the UK does, and because the military goods were without the relevant transit licence, a criminal investigation is underway. Although Belgian authorities have refused to name the arms company involved, the Belgium government did confirm that the initial complaint focused on Moog.
Activist-submitted FOIs show that the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) and the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) did not review, suspend, amend nor revoke any relevant export licences following the seizure of the military goods in Belgium. The FOIs further reveal that the DBT did not receive any compliance disclosures, enquiries or notifications from exporters, freight forwarders, or logistics providers concerning the transit, routing or reexport of UK Military goods to Israel via Belgium.
Criterion 7 of the SELC states that export licence approvals must take into account the risk that exports will be diverted to an “undesirable end-user”. Given the lack of investigation from the DBT following the seizure of the UK exports in Belgium, how can we trust that investigation is being done to ensure there is no diversion of exports from the UK to “undesirable end-users”?
Furthermore, how can we trust that investigation and follow-up is being conducted to ensure military goods approved for export licences to Israel that are supposed to be re-exported to another country actually do make it out of Israel? Will the £8.7 million Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) issued to Israel in Q4 of 2025 for military “components and technology for targeting equipment” be re-exported as the DBT is arguing, or will the military goods follow the way of the UK-produced Watchkeeper drone components, which were supposed to be sent onto Romania but remained in Israel?
And how can the UK’s export licensing system seemingly not take into account the export control regulations of the countries its exports are moving through?
The M-346: training genocide pilots
The notorious F-35 loophole allows for the continued export of F-35 components to Israel if sent via a third country, but how is it that components for the M-346 trainer aircraft have continued to be exported to Israel during the genocide?
In September 2025, Trade Minister Sir Chris Bryant told the Business and Trade Sub-Committee that licences for Israel which are still active included components for trainer aircraft.
Chair of the committee, Liam Byrne MP, questioned this – asking if the trainer aircrafts would be used by fighter pilots who would then go on to engage in “combat over Gaza”. Bryant responded that the training for the pilots would take so long that it would not be possible for the pilots to be involved in Gaza “combat” following their training.
By using a time-frame argument, Bryant has essentially admitted that the trainer aircrafts do play a role in facilitating the Gaza genocide.
The UK government chose not to include export licences for trainer aircrafts in its September 2024 partial export licence suspension, arguing that they are not used in military combat. An internal briefing regarding Bryant’s presentation to the Business and Trade Sub-Committee, obtained through activist FOI request, states that trainer aircraft components can continue to be exported to Israel as they “have no operational role in the present conflict in Gaza”. There was no mention of the length of training time.
However, a further internal Foreign Office briefing obtained by Declassified from October 2025 acknowledges that the M-346, while not used for combat missions, “facilitates the development of an offensive capability”.
Export Licensing System violations?
The UK’s own Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC), section 2C, states that the decision to grant an export licence must consider whether the licence risks committing or facilitating a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
How can “facilitating the development of an offensive capability” for a country which has shown no regard for IHL over the past several years of genocide not be in violation of this criterion?
Training a pilot who will drop 2000lb bombs over Gaza facilitates the Gaza genocide. If it didn’t, why would Bryant try to make an argument about the length of training time?
Moreover, it can actually take less than a year for Israeli pilots to go from training on an M-346 to flying over Gaza in an F-16 or F-35. Ensuingly, it appears that Bryant’s statement to the Business and Trade Sub-Committee was misleading in multiple ways.
Not only did Bryant apparently over-state the length of training-time needed, but he also seems to imply that he has an idea of when the Gaza genocide will end. With no end to the genocide in site, it is impossible to argue that any amount of training time would be enough to delay the trainer aircrafts facilitating the Gaza genocide.
CAAT calls for the following actions to be taken:
- Immediately suspend all UK export licences for components for the M-346 Lavi trainer aircraft.
- Implement a complete, two-way arms embargo on Israel, which includes the export of all components involved in the training of Israeli forces. Export licences which facilitate the Gaza genocide must be included.
- Call for an immediate investigation into the continuous export of trainer aircraft components from the UK to Israel since the 2024 partial arms suspension.
- Implement measures to ensure that exporters comply with third country export and transit controls when exporting licensed goods, and to suspend licences when they breach them.
- Call on the Business and Trade Committee to hold the government to account about the seizure in Belgium of military goods, exported from the UK, that were in transit to Israel
- Call for a review of the UK’s Strategic Export Licencing Criteria (SELC) to ensure criterion 2C and criterion 7 are upheld.
