Jerusalem: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) CEO Nimrod Sheffer announced on July 1 that he is stepping down after two years in the position.

Sheffer replaced Joseph Weiss as CEO in June 2018, and will leave after training a successor, the company said. His predecessor was CEO for six years and left at retirement age.

Sheffer came to IAI as vice president of strategic planning after retiring from 36 years of military service in 2018. A former combat pilot, he was head of the Israel Defence Forces’ Planning Directorate.

“During his term as IAI CEO Sheffer has introduced a series of reforms and transformations and has drafted a growth strategy and a business plan which yielded excellent business results for IAI in the past six quarters,” the company said in a statement.

In his announcement, Sheffer thanked IAI employees and executives for their trust and cooperation.

Sheffer championed IAI’s multi-mission radar made by its subsidiary Elta Systems, which he called “the best radar of its kind in the world.”

IAI is Israel’s largest aerospace and defence company, one of three major defence firms in the country. After a record year in 2017 of US$5.5 billion in revenue, IAI’s revenue dropped to US$3.6 billion in 2018, but rose to US$4.1 billion in 2019.

Most recently, the company has focused on new contracts for special mission aircraft, testing of a long-range attack ballistic missile, and new innovations in UAV and counter-UAV technology.

Sheffer opened a new innovation centre in Tel Aviv in December 2019 aimed at cultivating Israel’s startups, part of a strategy to encourage entrepreneurship.

Israel’s defence industry is under strain from the Coronavirus pandemic and reports indicate IAI is laying off 900 employees from its aviation group. The company suffered financial losses in 2018 due to what Sheffer said were nonrecurring events, according to statements in Israel’s Globes media.