The United States will purchase a highly sophisticated and apparently top-secret weapons system designed and produced in Israel, Moshe Peled, director general of the government’s Arms Development Authority, disclosed Sunday.
He said the $140 million contract will be signed shortly. He would not disclose the nature of the weapons system, except to say it has no equal in the world.
Peled said another $600 million deal is pending, but gave no further details.
He observed, however, that it is necessary to “sell yesterday’s and today’s secrets to prepare for those of tomorrow.”
He explained that a special committee of the Defense Ministry decides which weapons can be made public and which can be sold abroad to raise revenue for new projects.
Meanwhile, another Israeli defense contractor, Elbit Computers Ltd., announced Sunday that it won a major contract to supply avionic systems for the American Atlas missile.
Elbit would not disclose the value of the contract, but said it beat out an array of international competitors, including the General Dynamics Corp., which manufactures the Atlas.
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