Tel Aviv: Elbit Systems Ltd, Israel announced January 3 that its subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), Elbit Systems Emirates Limited (“Elbit Systems Emirates”), was awarded an approximately $ 53 million contract to supply Direct Infrared Countermeasures (“DIRCM”) and airborne Electronic Warfare (“EW”) systems for the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft of the UAE Air Force. The contract will be performed over a five-year period.

The interest in the Elbit’s counter measures systems has been increased since the first indications pointed to the transfer of shoulder launched Houthis missiles from Iran to some of its proxies, mainly the Houthis in Yemen. Iran has developed a line of shoulder launched missiles (Misagh 1, 2,3).

Under the contract, Elbit Systems Emirates will deliver a multi-turret configuration of the J-MUSIC™ Self-Protection System together with the company’s Infra-Red-based Passive Airborne Warning System (PAWS IR), providing high levels of protection and redundancy. Elbit’s DIRCM systems have accumulated more than 350,000 operational flight hours to date, and are installed onboard more than 25 types of aircraft.

Elbit Systems’ J-MUSIC DIRCM and the integrated PAWS IR are designed with open architecture and integrate the latest laser technology along with a high frame-rate thermal camera and a small, dynamic high-speed sealed-mirror turret making it possible to defend against infra-red missile threats.

According to the company it is witnessing a growing demand for this type of self-protection capabilities in light of the rising threat that aircraft face from shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles. Elbit Systems views the UAE as an important market and believes that this contract award further highlights the technological advantage and maturity of the solutions offered by the company in this field.