Haifa, Israel: Elbit Systems announced May 8 that it has been awarded a contract worth approximately $53 million to supply the Crossbow Unmanned Turreted 120mm Soft Recoil Mortar Systems to General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS). The mortar systems will be installed on Pandur 6×6 APC wheeled armoured vehicle for a European customer. The contract will be performed over a period of 6 years.
This marks the first contract signed for the supply of the Crossbow since its unveiling at the DSEI exhibition in London in 2023. Elbit Systems’ Crossbow offers high protection and survivability for the mortar operator’s crew and a short sensor-to-shooter circle, and is capable of shooting the first round in less than 30 seconds. It has a maximum rate of ten rounds per minute with a sustained rate of fire of six rounds per minute. The system can fire a variety of NATO 120mm ammunition, including the Iron Sting guided mortar munition, providing an effective range of up to 10 kilometres. No index loading is required for the Crossbow turret, which offers a 360° capability.
Yehuda (Udi) Vered, General Manager of Elbit Systems Land, said, “We are proud to receive the first order from a leading international costumer for our state-of-the-art Crossbow Unmanned Turreted Mortar System. The turreted mortar, with its precise guided round, reaffirms our commitment to developing and providing innovative and advanced land systems as solutions to the evolving needs of the modern battlefield.”
Elbit Systems is a leading global defence technology company, delivering advanced solutions for a secure and safer world. Elbit Systems develops, manufactures, integrates and sustains a range of next-generation solutions across multiple domains.
Driven by its agile, collaborative culture, and leveraging Israel’s technology ecosystem, Elbit Systems enables customers to address rapidly evolving battlefield challenges and overcome threats. In 2023, Elbit Systems reported approximately $6.0 billion in revenues and an order backlog of $17.8 billion.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
