In 2002, the Israel Navy stunned the world when it intercepted in the Red Sea the Karine A, a ship carrying arms from Iran to Gaza, and towed it to the Ashdod Port. The state-of-the-art radar systems used in the mission are now being exported, and will be used the air force of an Asian country. Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) subsidiary Elta Systems will sell the latest version of the radar system - the ELM-2032 - in a $150 million contract.
IAI completely refuses to name the customer, or the types of combat jets in which the radars will be installed, citing the contract's confidentially conditions.
Elta executives told "Globes" that Elta teams will work with the customer to install the radars in its jet fighters as part of a general upgrade of its air force planes. The contract is for five years, with payments made during this period.
The ELM-2032 radar system can identify moving and stationary targets day and night in all weather conditions. Elta says that the system can photograph hundreds of objects in the arena of operations, and subsequently compare the photographs for the objects of particular interest.
This capability is what enabled the Israel Navy to identify the Karine A in 2002 among the hundreds of ships moving the area at the time. Elta executives say that the radar system can operate in different combat situations, including air-to-air, air-to-ground, and air-to-sea, analyzing targets for attack, directing the necessary weapons systems to the targets, and providing high resolutions before and after images in order to improve post-attack briefings.
Elta is demonstrating the ELM-2032 radar that it sold at the upcoming Singapore Air Show this week.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 8, 2012
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