A weapons manufacturer that provides Israel with bombs used in war crimes
REPKON MAKİNA ve KALIP SANAYİ ve TİCARET A.Ş. (Repkon Machine and Tool Industry and Trade Inc) is a Turkish privately-owned engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Istanbul. It specializes in metal-forming machinery, especially for the weapons industry, but also for the aerospace, automotive, and other heavy industries.
In March 2025, just after the breakdown of the second ceasefire agreement of the Gaza genocide, Repkon announced it had acquired the General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems factory in Garland, Texas. For decades, this has been the only U.S. manufacturer of the MK-80 series bomb bodies and other bombs in heavy use by Israel.
The MK-80 series of aerial general-purpose bombs includes the 2,000-pound MK-84/BLU-117, 1,000-pound MK-83/BLU-110, and 500-pound MK-82 bombs. They have all been gifted by the U.S. to Israel for decades through the Foreign Military Sales program. Israel has used these bombs repeatedly in countless attacks against civilians in Gaza during every major assault on Gaza: in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2022, and the genocide that started in 2023.
Repkon USA was named as the prime contractor in two large U.S. weapon sales to Israel:
- Feb. 28, 2025 - 201 MK-83 1,000-pound bombs and 4,799 BLU-110 1,000-pound bomb bodies. The total cost of this sale is $675.7 million, but this amount also includes 5,000 JDAM kits from Boeing.
- March 6, 2026 - during the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran - 12,000 BLU-110 1,000-pound bomb bodies worth a combined $151.8 million, with immediate delivery, partially from existing U.S. stock.
2,000-Pound Bombs
The heaviest of the MK-80 bomb series, the 2,000-pound MK-84/BLU-117 (the designation depends on the explosive filling), is notorious for its deadliness. It cannot be used in densely populated urban areas without causing massive civilian casualties. The explosion of a 2,000-pound bomb means “instant death” for people within 100 feet, with lethal fragments extending for up to 1,200 feet.
These 2,000-pound bombs have caused most of the civilian casualties in the first phase of the Gaza genocide, at the end of 2023. Israel dropped more than 500 such bombs in the northern Gaza Strip between Oct. 7 and Nov. 6, 2023. These include, for example, the Nov. 1 bombing of Jabalia refugee camp, which killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians and could amount to a war crime, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Similarly, between Oct. 7 and mid-November 2023, Israel dropped over 208 2,000-pound bombs on the southern Gaza Strip, in areas “where Israel had ordered civilians to move for safety.” This includes, for example, an Oct. 10 bombing that killed 24 people of the Al-Najjar family and potentially an Oct. 22 bombing that killed 19 people of the Abu Mu'eileq, both in Deir al-Balah. Both attacks were unlawful and “could amount to a war crime,” according to Amnesty International.
Mounting public outcry over Israel’s illegal use of 2,000-pound bombs led the Biden administration to put a temporary hold on their deliveries in May 2024. By that time, the U.S. had reportedly sent to Israel at least 14,000 2,000-pound bombs since the genocide began. In January 2024, the Trump administration lifted the hold.
On Feb. 28, 2025, the U.S. announced it would provide Israel with 35,529 additional 2,000-pound bombs from the Garland, Texas factory, which is now owned by Repkon.
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB)
Repkon's Garland, Texas factory has also “manufactured the SDB warhead since 2002,” according to Repkon USA’s website. This refers to the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, which has also been used extensively by Israel against Palestinian civilians.
In 2024, after Israel’s extensive usage of 2,000-pound bombs in Gaza caused unprecedented civilian casualties and drew wide condemnation, including from the U.S., it switched to use mostly smaller bombs, primarily the GBU-39. By June 2024, the GBU-39 has become “increasingly the weapon of choice for the Israeli military … compared with the war’s earliest days, when it launched them in only 10 percent of airstrikes against Gaza."
Israel used GBU-39 bombs in countless airstrikes, including on schools and healthcare facilities. Some of the deadliest known airstrikes with confirmed usage of GBU-39 bombs include:
• May 26, 2024 - Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, Rafah - at least 45 people killed, mostly civilians.
• May 13, 2024 - Nuseirat family home and school - as many as 30 people killed.
• July 27, 2024 - Khadija school, Deir al-Balah - at least 30 people killed, including 15 children and eight women, and at least 100 injured.
• May 26, 2025 - Fahmy al-Jarjawi school, Gaza City – at least 36 people killed, including 18 children.
On Feb. 28, 2025, the U.S. government announced it would provide Israel with 2,166 GBU-39 bombs to Israel. The primary contractor is Boeing, while Repkon is a likely unnamed subcontractor.
Repkon in the US
Repkon was founded in 1978 but registered in the U.S. only in March 2024 as Repkon USA Holdings, headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
Immediately after entering the U.S. market, Repkon was subcontracted by General Dynamics to support the establishment of a new 155mm artillery shell factory in Mesquite, Texas. The U.S. has experienced a significant shortage in 155mm artillery shells as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Gaza genocide, and this factory is designed to speed-up U.S. production.
In November 2024, Repkon received its first major federal contract, to build and operate a TNT factory in Kentucky. Worth up to $435 million, this U.S. Army contract is designed to “reestablish TNT production swiftly and at scale on U.S. soil for the first time in decades.” TNT is the primary explosive used to fill 155mm artillery shells and hasn’t been produced in the U.S. since 1986.
In 2025, Repkon significantly expanded its U.S. presence with two major acquisitions. In March, it acquired McCormick Stevenson Corporation, a military-focused engineering firm based in Clearwater, Florida. In April, it acquired the General Dynamics bomb factory in Garland, as described above.