ELTA Systems

ELTA’s activities span air, land, sea, space, and cyber systems, with four divisions covering Air & Missile Defence & Naval Systems; Airborne Systems; Intelligence, EW, Cyber & Communications; and Land Systems.[6] Its work includes layered detection and fire control, airborne early warning, maritime patrol, intelligence collection, secure communications, autonomous ground systems, border security, counter-drone systems, and surveillance networks.[6]

The company’s broader portfolio encompasses command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, alongside airborne early-warning and control systems, fire control, self-protection, and self-defense.[7] Its intelligence capabilities include signals intelligence, electronic intelligence, and communications intelligence, while its technological specializations include artificial intelligence, cyber, and robotics.[7] Radar products connect several of these fields: ELTA supplies sensors for missile defense, fighter aircraft, naval vessels, air surveillance, and artillery-related missions.[6][8]

ELTA has combined manufacturing for Israeli defense programs with international sales and industrial partnerships, including airborne warning systems for India and radar production with Rheinmetall Canada.[2][9] It has also entered radar supply and maintenance arrangements with Czech industry.[10][11]

ELTA Electronics Industries Ltd. was established in 1967 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries and subsequently evolved into ELTA Systems Ltd.[1][12] Its original specialization was defense electronics.[12] In the late 1960s, the electronics unit developed an inexpensive aircraft radar that later became a successful export product.[13]

During the mid-1980s, ELTA’s electronic-warfare business was thriving even as some other IAI businesses experienced difficulties.[13] The company specialized in high-technology intelligence tools, and its sales rose from $70 million in 1981 to approximately $182 million annually in the period described.[13] Its American customers included Hughes and Westinghouse.[13]

ELTA contributed radar and electronic-warning equipment to the Lavi aircraft program.[14] Its EL/M-2035 multi-mode pulse-Doppler radar developed from the EL/M-2021B used on the IAI Kfir-C2.[14] A coherent transmitter and stable multichannel receiver supported look-down performance and high-resolution mapping, while a programmable signal processor and distributed embedded computer network allowed computing resources to be allocated and the system to be updated.[14]

The EL/M-2035 could provide the speed and position of airborne and ground targets, map terrain for the pilot, and track several targets at 46 kilometers in at least five air-to-air modes.[14] Air-to-ground functions included ground mapping, terrain avoidance, and sea search.[14] Following cancellation of the Lavi program, the radar was offered for fighter retrofits, including the Denel Cheetah E.[14] ELTA and Elistra also designed the aircraft’s internally carried electronic-warning system, integrating electronic support and countermeasures for rapid threat identification and automatic deception and jamming of enemy radar stations.[14]

ELTA developed Green Pine during the 1990s for the Arrow missile-defense system.[15] Green Pine and its successor, Super Green Pine, detect, identify, and track long-range ballistic missiles.[16] The Arrow program itself grew from a May 1986 United States–Israel memorandum of understanding and a 1988 agreement under which Israel would develop it with American financial and technical assistance.[17] Arrow was intended to complement American missile defense while remaining independent of it, intercepting missiles at a higher altitude than Patriot as part of a multi-tiered defense.[17]

In a September 14, 1998 test, Green Pine tracked a simulated ballistic-missile target and transmitted data to the intercept management system; the full test ended about 97 seconds after the Arrow missile’s launch.[18] During the November 1, 1999 Arrow-2 test, an interceptor engaged a live target missile launched from a vessel at sea, and the interceptor, Green Pine, and Citron Tree fire-control system appeared to operate together successfully.[17] Green Pine subsequently served in defenses against threats including those from the Iranian-backed Houthis.[15]

ELTA produced the radar for Iron Dome, whose development was led by Rafael in cooperation with ELTA and command-and-control supplier mPrest.[19] Development began in 2005 on the initiative of Brigadier General Dr. Danny Gold, then head of the Defense Ministry’s Research and Development Unit.[19] Work accelerated after the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and again after rocket fire from Gaza during Operation Cast Lead; final tests occurred in late 2010, and the first battery reached the Israel Air Force in early 2011.[19] The Ministry of Defense identifies the Israel Missile Defense Organization as leading development, with Rafael as main contractor and ELTA and mPrest as partners.[16]

Iron Dome’s EL/M-2084 active electronically scanned array radar detects and tracks incoming projectiles, with interception undertaken when a projectile is targeting a populated area.[20] The ELM-2084 Multi-Mission Radar family was initially developed for Israel Defense Forces requirements and subsequently improved for Iron Dome.[8] It also serves as a principal sensor for David’s Sling and IAI’s land-based Barak weapon systems.[8]

The radar family supports air surveillance, air defense, counter-rocket, artillery and mortar missions, hostile-weapon location, and friendly-fire ranging.[8] A 2019 account described simultaneous monitoring, tracking, and support for interception of multiple airborne projectiles, giving coverage of about 250 kilometers and an altitude range of 100 to 3,000 meters.[21] The radar has also been described as capable of tracking, identifying, and classifying hundreds of threats.[15]

In 2019, ELTA presented a multi-sensor ELM-2084 configuration combining the main radar with higher-band radar, identification sensors, passive signals-intelligence sensors, and electro-optical/infrared equipment.[21] The configuration was intended to improve classification of closely spaced targets and address small, low-flying, slow, or hovering objects alongside rockets and missiles.[21] ELTA also manufactures the MF-STAR radar fitted to Sa’ar 6 naval ships.[15]

India’s 2004 Phalcon agreement covered three airborne early-warning and control aircraft for $1.1 billion.[2] The associated IAI contract called for ELTA to install Phalcon systems on Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76 transports, using radars modified from the Lavi project.[13] The first two aircraft were delivered in May 2009 and March 2010, and the third was inducted in March 2011.[2] In 2016, India’s Cabinet Committee on Security cleared a proposal for two additional Phalcon aircraft, with Russia supplying the aircraft, in a package valued above $800 million.[2] ELTA-made aerostat-mounted surveillance radars were also deployed on India’s borders.[2]

A 2005 Israeli program involved modifying Israel Air Force Gulfstream G5 aircraft into airborne signals-intelligence and airborne early-warning aircraft designated Nachshon.[22] The aircraft highlighted at that time was the first of several planned modifications of this kind.[22] ELTA’s president linked new orders that year to increased activity in homeland security, advanced early-warning systems, and electronic-warfare markets.[22]

In 2010, ELTA sold an EL/M-2083 phased-array radar carried by a tethered helium balloon to an East Asian customer for $57 million.[23] The system provided early warning across hundreds of square kilometers.[23] Foreign-customer contracts announced in 2012 totaled $106 million and included three-dimensional fire-control radars, satellite communications, the ELM-2288 long-range air-defense and air-traffic-control radar, and the ELM-2106NG tactical air-defense radar.[24] The communications equipment included a wideband data link intended for maritime-patrol, airborne early-warning, and signals-intelligence aircraft.[24]

ELTA and Rheinmetall Canada won Canada’s Medium Range Radar program in 2015, with the selected ELM-2084 to be produced locally with Rheinmetall Canada.[9] The mobile, three-dimensional S-band radar combined hostile-weapon location, friendly-fire ranging, and air surveillance.[9] It could detect rockets, artillery, and mortars and track maneuvering aircraft, including targets with low radar cross sections.[9]

In 2017, ELTA supplied several mobile three-dimensional air-surveillance and defense radars to a European NATO member for integration into its national and NATO air- and missile-defense system.[25] Their stated missions included close-to-force air defense and detection of low-flying fast aircraft, hovering helicopters, drones, and low-speed ultralights.[25]

A 2019 government-to-government agreement worth $125 million covered eight ELM-2084 radars for the Czech Republic, with air-surveillance, air-defense, and artillery capabilities and compatibility with Czech and NATO command-and-control systems.[10] Production responsibilities were allocated 70 percent to Israel and 30 percent to Czech industry, covering design, manufacture, assembly, integration, testing, and lifetime maintenance.[10] In 2024, ELTA agreed to provide 20 years of maintenance in cooperation with Czech subcontractors RETIA and VTU.[11]

Two additional Asian fighter-aircraft orders in 2018 illustrated ELTA’s airborne radar and protection work.[26][27] Initial contracts exceeding $60 million covered multimode radars and an electronic-warfare protection system, both based on active electronically scanned array technology.[26] Radar functions included longer-range detection, target tracking, air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea modes, synthetic-aperture mapping, and ground-moving-target indication.[26] A separate $55 million repeat order covered ELM-2032 multimode airborne fire-control radars for newly manufactured combat aircraft, with high-resolution mapping and detection, tracking, and imaging of aircraft and moving ground and maritime targets.[27]

A 2018 contract exceeding $150 million commissioned ELTA to modernize an unnamed European customer’s national ground-based signals-intelligence and electronic-warfare system.[28] Work encompassed fixed sites, mobile systems, and European defense-company subcontractors, using ELTA’s ELI-6063 integrated system.[28] The intended outputs included civilian and military ground and air situational pictures and an enhanced military electronic order of battle.[28]

The ELI-6063 detects, monitors, analyzes, locates, and records communications and radar emissions, and can jam selected targets.[28] The wider system also supplies army units with a real-time flow of communications and electronic-intelligence data.[28]

The ELTA Electronic Warfare suite offers radar electronic support measures, communications electronic support measures, and electronic countermeasures, including counter-unmanned aerial system capability.[29] It was listed as available internationally through ELTA in a 2021 United States Congressional Record notice.[29] A 2023 proposed modernization package for four Hellenic Navy MEKO-class frigates included the suite with communications-support, radar-support, and countermeasures capabilities.[30] The estimated $2.5 billion value applied to the broader proposed modernization package, not solely to ELTA’s equipment.[30]

ELTA’s Drone Guard detects, identifies, and disrupts unmanned aerial vehicles and can be installed on a tripod, vehicle, or building.[1] In 2018, ELTA won an Argentine contract to provide the system for major events in Buenos Aires, including the Youth Olympics and G20 Summit.[1]

The ELI-4030 Drone Guard was demonstrated at NATO’s REP(MUS) 19 exercise in Portugal in October 2019 at the Portuguese Navy’s invitation.[31] The exercise addressed harbor protection and the integration of unmanned surface, underwater, and airborne systems, with about 800 personnel from NATO nations observing demonstrations.[31] Drone Guard passed a Portuguese Navy evaluation and qualified to participate.[31]

The demonstrated configuration combined three-dimensional X-band radar, communications-intelligence equipment to classify drones by their transmissions, an electro-optical/infrared camera, and a jammer.[31] It provided 360-degree coverage against airborne approaches from land and sea.[31] During simulated harbor attacks, Portuguese forces launched individual drones and a swarm from rubber boats; the system detected, tracked, classified, and neutralized the tested drones.[31] In 2021, ELTA chief executive Yoav Tourgeman said Drone Guard had reached its fourth generation and had been sold to 100 customers, whose identities were not disclosed.[32]

ELTA also partnered with India’s Tech Mahindra to supply next-generation cyber solutions and services globally.[33] The collaboration announced in 2018 focused on designing and delivering analytics using artificial intelligence and machine learning.[33] In 2019, ELTA led the Israeli Cyber Companies Consortium and Israeli Aviation Cyber Companies Consortium.[34] It agreed with Brazil’s National Confederation of Industries to work with SENAI on a cyber-defense academy and Center of Excellence, intended to share education, knowledge, and research-and-development capabilities adapted to Brazilian requirements.[34]

A separate 2018 project with Florida-based TLC Solutions addressed disaster response.[35] The partners were to develop an advanced drone-mounted search-and-rescue system that would locate victims beneath rubble and in disaster areas by accurately locating their cellular phones.[35]

In 2005, ELTA reported a $2.4 billion order backlog and $680 million in new orders received during the year to that point.[22] First-half sales were $337.5 million, up 29 percent from $261.7 million a year earlier, and the company forecast a $25 million net profit for the year.[22] A 2018 profile put its workforce at 3,600 and described a portfolio spanning radar, early warning, communications, intelligence, electronic warfare, and cybersecurity.[3]

By November 2025, ELTA’s workforce was estimated at approximately 4,500.[36] First-half 2025 sales were reported at about $1.5 billion, a 23 percent increase over the corresponding period of 2024.[36] An October 2026 report estimated full-year 2025 sales at approximately $2.2 billion and IAI’s total sales at approximately $7.4 billion.[4] It named Dror Bar as ELTA’s manager, placed its principal operations in Ashdod, and described the approximately 4,500 employees as nearly one-third of IAI’s workforce.[4] The same report linked ELTA’s activities with IAI’s Land Division and its robotics and autonomous-vehicle work.[4]

Although formally a subsidiary, ELTA was listed among IAI’s four divisions in quarterly reporting by 2025.[36] In May 2026, a proposed merger envisaged transferring its activities, assets, rights, and obligations to IAI without compensation and terminating its separate legal existence.[37] The government approved the move in July, and IAI’s board approved the merger agreement on October 28, 2026.[4]

Under the approved agreement, ELTA would retain its existing name as an IAI division.[5] Its activities, assets, rights, and obligations would transfer to the parent company.[37] Completion remained subject to requirements and approvals, with a target of the end of 2027 or a later date agreed by the parties.[5] The stated objectives of the “One Company” strategy included simplifying processes, reducing organizational interfaces and administrative duplication, increasing flexibility, and preserving ELTA’s capabilities and personnel.[4][5] The integration was also intended to facilitate marketing ELTA systems alongside IAI’s wider portfolio.[4]

ELTA supplies radar technology across Israel’s Arrow, Iron Dome, and David’s Sling programs, linking its work to several layers of the country’s air and missile defenses.[4] Green Pine provides ballistic-missile detection and tracking, while the ELM-2084 family supports interception and surveillance missions across multiple weapon systems.[16][8]

At a 2018 event marking the 100th acquisition of an ELM-2084-family system, the systems and associated projects were valued at more than $1.9 billion.[8] The same announcement reported acquisitions by countries worldwide and more than 1,500 operational intercepts involving the radar family since 2011.[8] International programs have also involved local production, integration with NATO command systems, and long-term maintenance partnerships rather than equipment supply alone.[9][10]

Beyond missile defense, ELTA’s applications extend from airborne intelligence and naval sensing to cyber education, counter-drone protection, and proposed cellular-phone-based disaster rescue technology.[6][35] These activities connect the company’s defense-electronics expertise with border protection and event security.[1] They also encompass international technical cooperation and humanitarian search-and-rescue development.[34][35]

A joint electronic-warfare suite project involving ELTA and India’s Defence Avionics Research Establishment for MiG-27 fighters failed to meet many technical specifications.[2] Improvements could not be completed quickly enough to make the system viable, particularly as the aircraft was being phased out, and India’s audit watchdog characterized the development effort as “injudicious.”[2]

An earlier Phalcon transaction with China was undone under pressure from the United States.[13] The episode concerned IAI’s export of the airborne warning technology subsequently associated with the Indian Phalcon program.[13]