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Israeli Defense Company to Upgrade Azerbaijan's T-72 Battle Tanks

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  • Israeli Defense Company to Upgrade Azerbaijan's T-72 Battle Tanks

    Israeli Defense Company to Upgrade Azerbaijan's T-72 Battle Tanks

    http://hetq.am/en/region/41835/
    [ 2010/10/23 | 11:04 ]
    region
    Elbit Systems wins $56 million modernization contract


    Rashad Suleymanov of the Azeri-Press Agency (APA) quoted military
    sources reporting that the Israeli company and Azerbaijan's Ministry
    of Defense Industry (MDI) had reached an agreement on the upgrade of
    the Army's Russian-built MBTs.

    The contract, which was announced by Elbit Systems on October 4, 2010,
    will provide Azerbaijan's T-72s with state-of-the-art battle
    management systems as well as observation and surveillance systems.

    According to the Israeli company, the modernization program has a
    total value of $56 million and will be completed within two years.

    Neither Elbit Systems nor Azerbaijani officials provided further
    details on the contract, such as the number of tanks to be upgraded.
    Azerbaijan operates a fleet of some 180 T-72 main battle tanks, of
    which 62, reportedly, were purchased from Russia in 2009.

    According to APA, Elbit Systems was recently selected over
    Turkish-based ASELSAN to carry out the modernization project. Both
    companies had simultaneously tested the systems offered in their
    respective bids for the multi-million dollar program on several tanks
    of the Azerbaijani Army in Nakhijevan, an autonomous region in
    south-western Azerbaijan.

    The company already works with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense
    Industry (MDI) in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
    Furthermore, APA reported in September 2009 that the MDI decided to
    co-operate with Turkish and Israeli defense companies in the joint
    production of armored combat vehicles, including tracked fighting
    vehicles, bridge-layers and armored trucks assembled on surplus
    vehicle chassis.

    Azerbaijan's finance minister has recently announced that the country
    will spend $3.287 billion on defense next year, making it one of the
    priorities in the 2011 state budget. According to AzerNews, this
    financial boost doubles the defense budget to a total of 18.9 per cent
    of the overall state budget in comparison to 2010. Nearly half the
    budget, reportedly, will be spent to modernize the Azerbaijani Armed
    Forces.

    P.S. - Federmann Enterprises Ltd, a privately-owned company organized
    under the laws of Israel, owns 45.4% of Elbit's outstanding shares.




    From: A. Papazian
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