Haifa, Israel-based Elbit Systems (ESLT 0.59%) is going Down Under for new business.
On Sunday, Elbit Systems announced that its Australian subsidiary, Elbit Systems of Australia (ELSA), has just won a $32 million contract to supply the Australian Federal Police (AFP) with a new Investigation, Intelligence and Incident Management (IIIM) computer system. Elbit will be working on this project over the next four years.
Commenting on the contract win in a statement, Elbit CEO Bezhalel Machlisa praised the AFP (essentially, Australia's FBI) as ranking "among the world's most advanced and modern police forces," and said the AFP's choosing Elbit's system for its upgrade "reflects the quality and maturity of our Intelligence and Analysis capabilities." Machlisa also said Australia is a "very significant market for Elbit Systems."
In fact, over the past year, the entire Asia Pacific region (to which Australia belongs) has become increasingly important to Elbit. Formerly one of Elbit's smaller geographic markets, Asia Pacific has contributed much of Elbit's revenue growth of late, and now accounts for nearly 20% of all revenues the company brings in.
