(UPI) — NATO has ordered additional J-Music direct infrared counter-measure systems from Israel’s Elbit Systems to protect its tanker/transport fleet.
The order for the self-protection systems is worth $46 million. The systems, together with the company’s Infrared-based Passive Airborne Warning Systems, are to be delivered to NATO over a four-year period.
“The MMF [Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet] users are very pleased that the Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft are going to be equipped with Elbit Systems’ J-Music DIRCM system,” Col. Jan der Kinderen, chairman of the MMF Steering Group, said in a press release. “This will greatly add to the safety and operational flexibility of the total fleet.”
The MMF features Airbus A330 aircraft, the company said.
Elad Aharonson, general manager of Elbit Systems ISTAR Division, added that the “follow-on contract that extends the supply of J-Music DIRCM and PAWS IR missile warning systems to NATO’s MMF program, attests to Elbit Systems’ technological and operational competitive advantage in addressing the intensifying threat of shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles.”