The Israeli Ministry of Defense awarded Israel’s Elbit Systems Ltd. [ESLT] a contract worth about $100 million to supply advanced radio systems, the company said Wednesday.
Under the contract Elbit will manufacture and provide hundreds of radio systems over five years. The company did not specify the precise number of radios ordered. Elbit will provide the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) with hand-held, vehicle-mounted, and airborne third generation Software Defined Radios, which allow advanced network services at a high security level.
Elbit also expects to receive an additional order to provide repair and maintenance service of the radios over 15 years. Maintenance activity will be performed under an outsourcing model as part of the ministry’s strategy to establish a full array of radio systems at high operational availability while significantly reducing maintenance expenses, Elbit said.
As part of this order, the company said it will expand its manufacturing and maintenance site in Arad, Israel to include up to 100 employees.
“We are very proud of this award, reinforcing our strategic partnership with the city of Arad on the one hand and with the IDF on the other. Employing 100 workers in Arad is in line with Elbit Systems’ strategy to enhance our presence in Israel’s peripheral areas,” Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, president and CEO of Elbit Systems, said in a statement.
“We have many years of experience in managing outsourcing projects in Israel and abroad, in radio communications as well as other military fields, and I am confident this experience will enable us to provide the IMOD with a top quality highly operational solution for a cost effective price,” he added.