JERUSALEM, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Israeli defence electronics firm Elbit Systems said it has boosted supplies to Israel's military due to the country's war with Hamas militants, as it reported on Tuesday higher quarterly profit.

Over the past six weeks, Elbit - one of Israel's largest defence contractors - has had to contend with 2,000 of its staff, or 15% of its workforce in Israel, being called into reserve duty to slightly disrupt its supply chain.

But deputy CEO Joseph Gaspar said the company has been working 24 hours, seven days a week to meet demand by Israel's military and other customers.

He noted that the Defence Ministry asked the firm to "increase quantities and urging us to earlier deliveries of existing contracts" and taking development programmes and shift them for field use.

"They are asking us to do that and we do our best of course to support it," he told Reuters.

"That actually accelerates the introduction of new products into the Army, Air Force etc...Looking forward this will probably continue in the near future as well."

Still, more than 80% of Elbit's revenues are outside of Israel and Gaspar said the company was working to ensure supplies are delivered from Israel and via subsidiaries in Europe, where one-third of sales are from, and the United States.

"We remain focused on maintaining our commitments to our customers around the world," said CEO Bezhalel Machlis.

Israel supplies hundreds of products to Israel's Defence Ministry, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), artillery, munitions and electronic warfare systems.

"Following the brutal attack on Israel, the outbreak of war on the 7th of October and the increase in demand for our solutions by the Israel Ministry of Defence, Elbit Systems has ramped up its production in support of the Israel MOD and Israel's security forces," said Machlis.

In the third quarter, Elbit said it earned $1.65 per diluted share excluding one-time items, up from $1.40 per share a year earlier but lower than expectations of $1.70 based on LSEG data.

Due to higher interest rates, financial expenses rose to $35.7 million from $16.4 million a year earlier.

Revenue increased to $1.5 billion from $1.35 billion, with aerospace revenue up 24%.

Elbit's board said the company would pay a dividend of 50 cents per share for the third quarter, the same as in the second quarter, to be paid on Jan. 8.

Its backlog of orders reached $16.6 billion, up nearly $2 billion over the past year and Gaspar said this will be "transformed into the revenue and eventually to the bottom line".

Through the first nine months, Elbit recorded revenue of $4.4 billion. Gaspar said the company was on track to reach annual sales of $6.5-7 billion by early 2026, along with an operating margin of 10%.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer, Editing by Mark Potter and Ed Osmond)