Tel Aviv: Israeli company Elbit Systems was awarded a contract valued at approximately $200 million to supply Electronic Warfare and airborne laser technologies to protect military helicopters of a country in Asia-Pacific. The contract will be executed over a four-year period.
Under the contract, Elbit Systems will supply self-protection suites comprised of the Infra-Red Passive Airborne Warning Systems (PAWS IR) and the Mini-MUSIC Direct Infra-Red Counter Measure (DIRCM) Systems. These protection suites are designed to increase survivability and mission effectiveness of helicopters in arenas threatened by shoulder-fired heat seeking anti-aircraft missiles. The protection suites to be supplied will be installed aboard both attack and utility helicopters.
MUSIC DIRCM systems have been selected to-date by numerous customers across the globe.
“There is an increasing demand across the globe for airborne protection solutions as aircraft, particularly helicopters, face a growing threat from anti-aircraft missiles. Our portfolio of sophisticated yet mature capabilities position us well to address this growing need,” said Bezhalel Machlis, President and CEO of Elbit Systems.
The Elbit MUSIC family of counter measures for fixed wing and helicopters is one of the company’s best sellers.
Earlier this year Elbit through its UAE subsidiary, Elbit Systems Emirates was awarded an approximately $53 million contract to supply Direct Infrared Countermeasures (“DIRCM”) and airborne Electronic Warfare (“EW”) systems for the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft of the UAE Air Force. The contract will be performed over a five-year period.
The interest in the Elbit’s counter measures systems has increased since the first indications pointed to the transfer of shoulder launched missiles from Iran to some of its proxies, mainly the Houthis in Yemen. Iran has developed a line of shoulder launched missiles (Misagh 1, 2,3).
Under the contract, Elbit Systems Emirates will deliver a multi-turret configuration of the J-MUSIC Self-Protection System together with the company’s Infra-Red-based Passive Airborne Warning System, providing high levels of protection and redundancy. The company’s DIRCM systems have accumulated more than 350,000 operational flight hours to date, and are installed onboard more than 25 types of aircraft.
According to Elbit Systems, it is witnessing a growing demand for this type of self-protection capabilities in light of the rising threat that aircraft face from shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles
-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
