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Subsidiary of Israeli Elbit Company Wins Contract to Upgrade Brazilian Air Force Jets

A Brazilian subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems Ltd. has won an $85 million contract to upgrade eleven Brazilian Air Force F-5 fighter-bomber jets, Elbit announced in a press release on 11 April. The contract will be carried out in 2013.

The subsidiary is AEL Sistemas, a Brazilian company that became part of the Elbit Systems Group in 2001. Elbit Systems Ltd. is one of the world’s largest defense electronics manufacturers and integrators.

In addition to its numerous international contracts, Elbit Systems also provides both Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and other military technology for Israel’s Occupation forces, as well as security systems for the Separation Wall and settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Responding to the new contract, Elbit Systems president and CEO Joseph Ackerman said, “We trust that the new contract will further strengthen the excellent cooperation between AEL, Embraer and the Brazilian Air Force, and we hope that other customers will decide to follow Brazil and select our combat-proven upgrade programs.”

In January of this year Elbit also announced that AEL was awarded a contract to supply Hermes(R) 450 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to the Brazilian Air Force.

According to Elbit, the project is part of the Brazilian Air Forces’ objective to establish independent UAS capabilities, allowing for self-reliant operation and development of UAS in Brazil.

AEL is not Elbit’s only subsidiary in Brazi. In January 2011, Elbit announced that it had purchased two more Brazilian companies: Ares Aeroespecial e Defesa, and Periscopio Equipamentos Optronicos.

Elbit also recently announced that a subsidiary of Elbit Systems of America, M7 Aerospace, was awarded a $15.6 million contract with the U.S. Navy for logistics support and maintenance for a mixed fleet of seven C-26 and UC-35 utility aircraft.

In March, the company announced another contract for $9.6M to provide a laser target designator and marker to the United States Marine Corps.

Elbit is a war profiteer and has earned much from Israel’s numerous attacks and assaults on the Palestinian and Lebanese people. Gaza and southern Lebanon in particular serve as testing grounds for Elbit’s weapons and technology, as it continually develops and enhances its products based on the expertise gained by the attacks on the people in this area, according to a profile of the company from War Resisters International.

In 2009 the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) divested from Elbit Systems, based on a recommendation of the country’s Council on Ethics.

“Elbit supplies a surveillance system that is part of the separation barrier being built by the Israeli government in the West Bank. The construction of parts of the barrier may be considered to constitute violations of international law, and Elbit, through its supply contract, is thus helping to sustain these violations,” the Council wrote to the Ministry of Finance.

“The Council on Ethics considers the Fund’s investment in Elbit to constitute an unacceptable risk of complicity in serious violations of fundamental ethical norms.”

April 12, 2011 - Posted by aletho | Solidarity and Activism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes