Israeli Elbit Systems wins $500m US Navy contract for night goggles
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The contract is confirmed to entail the manufacture of spare and repair parts, contractor logistics support, and test article refurbishment.
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From left, Major Gen. Georgios Vagenas, commander of the Greek Air Force Training Command, Head of SIBAT Yair Kulas, President and CEO of Elbit Systems Bezalel Machlis in Oct 2022 (AP)
In a press release, the US Department of Defense confirmed that Elbit Systems of America has been awarded a US Navy $500 million contract to begin manufacturing Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggle systems.
On Monday, the release stated that "Elbit Systems of America – Night Vision [of] Roanoke, Virginia is awarded a $500 million ...contract for the procurement of Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggle systems".
The contract is confirmed to entail the manufacture of spare and repair parts, contractor logistics support, and test article refurbishment.
According to the Defense Department, work on the contract will be carried out in Roanoke, Virginia, for the course of the next five years and is anticipated to be complete in November 2028.
What is Elbit?
Elbit Systems of America is a subsidiary of the Israeli notorious high-tech arms company Elbit Systems.
The corporation has encountered demonstrations at its US and UK subsidiary plants due to its backing of the Israeli military in the ongoing war on the Palestinian people. International investment corporations have also withdrawn their investments from the company as a result of this involvement.
Elbit Systems is the biggest military manufacturer in the Israeli occupation, producing 85% of the drones used by the Israeli Air Force and all of the land-based weapons used by the Israeli military.
Elbit boasts in its advertising that the Israeli occupation has used its equipment in combat in Gaza and the West Bank, where it is committing war crimes at the moment.
Read next: Palestine Action UK blocks entrance to Israeli arms factory
Contract-racking
This tops the contracts awarded back in September after it won a $200 million contract to supply advanced artillery and command and control systems used in offensive operations to an "undisclosed" European country.
The military firm said the artillery contract will provide C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence) capabilities to four battalions of 155mm howitzers and a Hostile Fire Counter Attack (HFCA) system.
According to the company, the contract will be executed until 2026 with options for further extensions.
Later in the month, it won a $95 million contract to supply hundreds of suicide drones to another unnamed European country.
Elbit that it will provide the client with the SkyStriker loitering munitions, also known as Kamikaze drones, over a period of two years.
SkyStriker is a versatile loitering munition (LM) capable of flying autonomously for up to two hours and covering 100 kilometers. It carries diverse 10-kilogram warhead types and can be used to carry out different types of missions. The LM can be launched from various ground and aerial platforms, including Elbit Systems' PULS rocket artillery.
