Israel Aerospace wins $350 million European special mission aircraft deal

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)

Reuters  /  June 8, 2020

TEL AVIV – Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) [ISRAI.UL] has received a $350 million contract from a European country for special mission aircraft, the state-controlled company said on Monday.

The contract will be carried out by IAI’s ELTA Systems. IAI did not name the European country.

IAI delivered special mission aircraft to the Israel Defence Forces and numerous countries and is one of only a few companies with these technology capabilities in-house.

Its technology enables high-performance business jets to be used as special mission aircraft. Previously, most of these aircraft, primarily used for collecting intelligence, were based on converted cargo or passenger planes.

IAI has four lines of special mission aircraft: airborne early warning and control aircraft, air to ground surveillance aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft and signal intelligence aircraft that monitor the electromagnetic spectrum.

Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Steven Scheer