The ministerial procurements committee today approved a proposal by Minister of Defense Ehud Barak to expand the procurement of Iron Dome batteries by an additional NIS 750 million. Ministry of Defense director general Udi Shani will sign contracts later today between the ministry and defense contractors.
The expansion of the Iron Dome procurement had been planned before Operation Pillar of Cloud as part of the multiyear multitier defense systems program. The program will allow for the continued production and delivery of Iron Dome batteries. The program is partly financed by Israel and partly with US military aid under an agreement reached between Barak and US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta earlier this year.
The Ministry of Defense's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure and the Iron Dome' manufacturers, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) unit Elta Systems, and mPrest Systems Ltd. have delivered five Iron Dome batteries to date.
Over the past five years, more than NIS 2.2 billion has been invested in the development and deployment of Iron Dome. The US has provided $205 million for the program, plus an additional $70 million out of $675 million promised by the administration under the Barak-Panetta deal.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 20, 2012
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