in matam haifa technology park type public traded as tase eslt nasdaq eslt founded 1966 ; 50 years ago 1966 headquarters haifa israel key people michael federmann chairman bezhalel machlis president and ceo revenue us 3.107 billion 2015 number of employees approximately 12 000 2013 subsidiaries elbit systems of america elbit systems electro optics elop elbit systems land and c4i elbit systems ew and sigint elisra website www.elbitsystems.com elbit skylark 1 unmanned aerial vehicle elbit hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicle elbit hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle elbit systems ltd. is an israel based international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world . the company which includes elbit systems and its subsidiaries operates in the areas of aerospace land and naval systems command control communications computers intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance c4isr unmanned aircraft systems uas advanced electro optics electro optic space systems ew suites signal intelligence sigint systems data links and communications systems and radios . the company also focuses on the upgrading of existing military platforms developing new technologies for defense homeland security and commercial aviation applications and providing a range of support services including training and simulation systems . in 2013 elbit systems had approximately 12 000 employees the majority of whom are engaged in engineering research and development and other technical areas . elbit systems shares are traded on the tel aviv stock exchange and otc in the united states nasdaq eslt . contents 1 history 1.1 early years a division within elron 1.2 1996 ipo on nasdaq 1.3 merger with el op 1.4 growth by acquisition 1.5 recent news 2 major subsidiaries 2.1 former holdings and spin offs 3 global presence 3.1 europe 3.2 north america 3.3 south america 4 divestment 5 products 5.1 unmanned aerial vehicles 6 unmanned surface vehicles 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit early years a division within elron edit elbit systems was founded in 1966 by elron electronic industries tase elrn which combined the existing expertise within the israel ministry of defense research institute in special computer design with elron s experience in electronic product design manufacture and management initially under the name elbit computers . elbit steadily expanded developing and producing logistic support weapon delivery and navigation systems for most israeli aircraft establishing a combat avionics package for the iai lavi fighter aircraft and producing a fire control system for the merkava tank . 1 1996 ipo on nasdaq edit in 1996 elbit spun off into three independent companies elbit medical imaging nasdaq emitf during 1999 to 2000 elscint another affiliate of elron and elbit medical imaging sold their imaging activities to general electric medical systems and to picker now part of philips medical systems for approximately 600 million . elbit systems created as the defence electronics arm of elbit the company had an initial public offering on the nasdaq stock market with the symbol nasdaq eslt and finished its first day of trading at a price of 7.75 . elbit systems has a market cap of over 3 billion . elbit which focused on communications activities and in 1999 led the consortium that founded partner communications company ltd. israel s first gsm operator nasdaq ptnr . in 2002 elbit was merged into elron . elron sold its shares in partner during 2003 2006 for approximately 160 million . merger with el op edit in 2000 elbit systems merged with el op a company controlled by the current chairman michael federmann creating the largest non governmental defense electronics company in israel and increasing elbit systems value which later in 2004 enabled elron to sell its shares in elbit systems for approximately 200 million . following the merger with el op michael federmann became the largest shareholder in the combined group . growth by acquisition edit following the merger with el op michael federmann and ceo joseph ackerman led an aggressive growth by acquisitions strategy . the company acquired companies including elisra tadiran communications shiron satellite communications bvr systems assets of israel military industries aircraft systems division innovative concepts inc. mikal ltd the company initially purchased 19 % of the firm and later agreed to acquire mikal s 100 % holdings in soltam systems and saymar and the 87.85 % portion of itl held by mikal in exchange mikal s owners received the 19 % of mikal that elbit had purchased 2 elbit subsequently announced a cash tender offer for the 12.15 % remainder of itl held by the public . 3 recent news edit in october 2014 elbit systems won a 12.7 million contract for the supply and provision of apache aviator integrated helmets helmets for the us army helicopter fleet . the contract would be delivered over a two year period . 4 major subsidiaries edit elbit systems intelligence and electro optics elop ltd. elbit systems land and c4i ltd. elbit systems ew and sigint elisra ltd. elbit systems cyclone ltd. elbit security systens ltd. kinetics ltd. scd semi conductor devices opgal optronics industries ltd. elbit systems of america llc former holdings and spin offs edit elbit vision systems nasdaq evsnf a developer and manufacturer of automated optical inspection solutions for textile manufacturing processes founded in 1992 and had an initial public offering on the nasdaq in 1996 . chip pc technologies tase cppc a developer and manufacturer of thin client solutions for server based computing ; elbit acquired 20 % of the company in 2006 . 5 global presence edit europe edit france on june 19 2011 elbit announced that its subsidiary elisra electronic systems ltd. was awarded a contract valued at approximately 5 million to supply hundreds of units of its an prc 684 personal locator beacon to the french ministry of defense equipping the french air force army navy and dga direction g n rale de l armement . the project is to be performed within 24 months . 6 italy on june 22 2011 elbit announced that it was awarded a contract valued in excess of 15 million by elettronica s.p.a to participate in a program to supply the elt 572 dircm directed infra red countermeasures system for installation on various platforms of the italian air force including the c130j c27j and aw101 . the contract is to be performed over the next three years . 7 macedonia in february 2004 elbit system started modernization of 4 helicopters two transport mi17 and two attack helicopters mi24v in air base petrovec for macedonian air force with equipment anvis hud 24 for flight and combat in night environments . on may 11 2011 ministry of defence signed a contract for building a training center for pilots with simulators full mission sumulator fms for mi17 and mi24 helicopters . simulators was produced by romanian company simultec ownership of elbit systems on march 2 2014 centar was opened with ceremony led by president of republic of macedonia gjorge ivanov premier of republic of macedonia nikola gruevski ex minister from ministry of defence and other guests . romania elbit systems activities in romania which started in 1996 are primarily carried out through its wholly owned romanian subsidiaries elbit systeme s.a. a e electronics s.a elmet international srl and simultec srl which employ approximately 400 employees . 8 on may 24 2011 elbit announced that it was awarded a contract valued at approximately 18.6 million to upgrade the romanian air forces c 130 transport aircraft . according to the agreement the c 130 aircraft will be installed with various types of advanced electronic systems including those produced by elbit systems wholly owned subsidiary elisra electronic systems ltd. the project to be performed over four years will be executed in cooperation with local companies in romania led by the romanian aeronautical industry . 8 united kingdom in 2005 elbit set up a joint venture company in the uk with thales uav tactical systems ltd u tacs developing the british army watchkeeper wk450 . on december 7 2007 it was announced that qinetiq will join the programme as a sub contractor to provide testing services at parcaberporth west wales . 9 in 2007 elbit acquired ferranti technologies group limited . 10 north america edit united states elbit owns several companies in the united states through its american subsidiary elbit systems of america esa efw in fort worth texas the efw facility also houses esa s home office efw manufactures various components for the f 16 v 22 and bradley fighting vehicle among other programs . it was initially the electronics manufacturing facility for general dynamics operations in fort worth ; when gd sold its aviation business to lockheed martin the latter was not interested in the facility which was then sold to elbit . 11 iei in talladega alabama formerly international enterprises inc. kollsman inc. in merrimack new hampshire founded in 1928 by paul kollsman who invented barometers and instrument flight in airplanes kollsman is a subcontractor to boeing on sbinet a high tech security system for the u.s. mexico border in conjunction with the united states department of homeland security . 12 talla com in tallahassee florida innovative concepts inc. ici in mclean virginia purchased in november 2008 from herley industries 13 vsi in san jose california a joint venture with rockwell collins formerly known as vision systems international ; elbit and rockwell collins each own 50 % uas dynamics in fort mill south carolina originally a 50 50 joint venture with general dynamics armament and technical products ; on december 1 2011 elbit purchased gd s 50 % share 14 m7 aerospace in san antonio texas 15 south america edit brazil in 2001 aeroeletronica ael a brazilian company that had more than two decades of experience in the defense industry has become a part of the elbit systems group . 16 in january 2011 elbit announced that it had bought two more brazilian companies ares aeroespecial e defesa and periscopio equipamentos optronicos . 17 in april 2011 embraer has entered into a strategic agreement with ael sistemas s.a ael a wholly owned subsidiary of elbit systems . the two companies were yet to define the specific programs to be pursued but according to officials from the two companies the main goals of the cooperation were the expanding of joint activities in the area of unmanned aircraft systems including the anticipated creation of a jointly owned company with majority participation of embraer d & s. one of the primary goals of the joint venture will be to promote the introduction and use of elbit systems hermes 450 uav in the service of the brazilian air force . 18 colombia in march 2010 a 28 million contract for hermes 450 uavs was suspended by the colombian government after media reports based on anonymous letters alleged that colombian officials had been bribed . 19 20 the israeli ministry of defense investigated and found that the letters likely came from israel aerospace industries a competitor that lost the tender . 19 the incident led to a review of the regulations governing overseas competition between israeli defense companies . 19 divestment edit on september 3 2009 the norwegian pension fund s ethical council decided to sell the fund s stocks in elbit due to the corporations supply of surveillance systems for the israeli west bank barrier . 21 at a press conference to announce the decision minister of finance kristin halvorsen said we do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law . the norwegian ambassador to israel was called to a meeting at the israeli foreign ministry where the decision was protested . 22 in january 2010 danske bank added elbit to the list of companies that fail its socially responsible investment policy ; a bank spokesman noted that it was acting in the interests of its customers by not placing their money in companies that violate international standards . 23 24 the danish financial watchdog danwatch has also placed elbit on its ethical blacklist 25 and one of