IAI and Elbit win $127 million in new U.S. Navy contracts
The awards cover missile canisters and survival radios, with work taking place in Israeli and U.S. facilities
Two U.S. Navy contracts announced on September 25 went to subsidiaries of Israeli defense companies, according to the Pentagon's daily contract disclosures, highlighting the continued role of Israeli-owned firms in the U.S. military's defense supply chain.
The larger award, worth $114 million, went to Stark Aerospace Inc. of Columbus, Mississippi, a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel's largest defense contractor. The award is a firm-fixed-price modification exercising options under an existing agreement, first signed in October 2024, for the production of Mark 25 Mod 1 vertical launch canisters.
The canisters are components of the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System, the standardized missile-launching architecture used aboard U.S. Navy destroyers and cruisers, as well as allied warships. The system is used to launch a range of weapons, including air-defense missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Naval Sea Systems Command is overseeing the contract. Work will be performed primarily in Columbus, Mississippi, with additional manufacturing at facilities in Oregon, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Completion is scheduled for February 2030.
The contract is being funded through multiple Navy weapons-procurement budgets spanning several fiscal years, with a portion of the funding set to expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The award builds on Stark's original base contract, valued at roughly $61 million when it was signed in 2024. The Navy subsequently expanded the agreement through successive option exercises, first in 2025 and now again in September. If all remaining options are exercised, the contract's cumulative value could exceed $300 million.
Elbit Systems receives $13.5 million for survival radios
The second contract, worth $13.5, went to Elbit Systems.
The five-year, firm-fixed-price contract covers the repair and maintenance of four configurations of survival radios used by U.S. Navy aviators. The compact devices are designed to help downed aircrews signal for rescue.
The contract was awarded on a sole-source basis, meaning the Navy determined that the work could be obtained from only one responsible source under the procurement process. Naval Supply Systems Command's Weapon Systems Support division in Philadelphia is the contracting activity.
Work is expected to continue through September 2031, with 60% performed at a facility in Talladega, Alabama, and the remaining 40% at Elbit's facility in Holon.
