Wednesday, 11 January 2012
IAI Signs $1.1Bn Arms Deal with India
(Source: Globes Israel; published Jan. 9, 2012)
Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) has signed one of its largest arms
deals, for the sale of $1.1 billion worth of missiles, anti-missile systems,
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), intelligence and other systems.
In a brief notice to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), IAI announced that
it has signed a four-year, $1.1 billion arms deal with an Asian country. It
did not name the customer or the systems that would be sold, but said that
advances would be paid in exchange for guarantees in the same amount.
Sources inform ''Globes'' that IAI has been in intensive talks with Indian
defense procurement officials. Other Israeli defense companies have
simultaneously been offering India their wares in an attempt to win the huge
contract. IAI CEO Yitzhak Nissan personally led the negotiations for the
company, which has already signed large arms deals with India, including for
the sale of Barak ground-based and ship defense missiles, accelerated its
negotiations.
A source close to the deal told "Globes" that it would greatly boost IAI's
orders backlog, and is a major personal achievement for Nissan at a time
when the global defense market is in crisis following the US departure from
Iraq and other countries slash defense spending.
"A deal of this size should not be taken for granted at a time when many
countries are cutting their defense spending because of uncertainty in
global markets. Nissan succeeded in reaching a mega-deal that will give IAI
financial and job security for years," the source said.
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