Elbit Systems Ltd. reported that its 40%-owned subsidiary, Tadiran Communications Ltd., announced yesterday that it signed an agreement valued at $55 million with “an Asian country.” Under the agreement, Tadiran will provide the customer with “advanced communications systems and equipment.” The firm has already received full advance payment for the first phase of the agreement, under which Tadiran will provide equipment valued at $5.5 million. The remainder of the contract is expected to be performed in three phases during 2006-2007. See corporate release [PDF].
Israeli announcements are often somewhat cryptic, as Arab hostility and anti-Jewish bigotry can create problems for some of their customers. In Singapore, for instance, Israeli military advisers were often described as “Mexicans” during the city-state’s early days. Because of DID’s insistence on attaching detail information to the contracts we cover, however, Israeli contracts tend to be slightly under-reported. Elbit’s subsidiary (now a 100% subsidiary) Elisra’s recent $80 million contract with an unnamed customer for fighter electronic warfare suites [PDF] is an example of something DID tends to pass on covering.
UPDATE: Subsequent rumors cite that $80 million deal as avionics and electronic warfare/ECM systems for Singapore’s new F-15SG Strike Eagle fighters.
