Smiths Group is a British large and technology arms company. From 2008 to 2021 it applied to the British government for 32 arms export licenses to Israel. It has supplied a number of components to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II programme. The F-35 Lightning II was first used by Israel in 2018, and has been used in Israel’s May 2021 aerial bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.