Elbit America to triple production rates of 155 mm artillery systems
NewsMay 07, 2024
Flavia Camargos Pereira
Military Embedded Systems
SOF WEEK 2024--TAMPA, Fla. Elbit America is ramping up the manufacturing of diverse solutions in its portfolio: Over the coming years, the company plans to triple the production of 155 mm systems and double the building of laser-guided seekers. It also intends to raise the numbers on fabrication of electronics including advanced avionics and helmets.
At the SOF Week exhibition -- now ongoing in Tampa, Florida -- Luke Savoie, Elbit America’s President & CEO, explains that the increase in rates meets customers’ demand, in addition to reflecting “the natural course of going from a development program to a full rate production program.”
The supplier currently manufactures the Sigma 155 mm, its next-generation mobile howitzer, which is part of the Atmos family and is used while mounted on a 10 by 10 wheeled platform. The company is currently offering the Sigma to the U.S. Army as a replacement for the branch’s in-service M777 lightweight howitzer.
In the area of laser seekers, Elbit America produces the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), which is an active designation system built to target static and fast-moving objects.
“We have also significantly started to ramp up the defence electronic side of our business specifically around advanced fighter aircraft displays and helmet production,” Savoie notes. The company has delivered 3,000 helmets to the F-35 program (shown below) and also manufactures heads-up displays for the F-18 and F-15EX.
Elbit America has already increased its capacity to produce mortars -- the company provides rounds to the U.S. Army’s Infantry Stryker and Armored Brigade Combat Teams and U.S. partners and allies. It also supplies fire-control equipment, barrels, base plates, bipods and other equipment to enable fielding of mortar systems.
In order to increase production rates, Elbit America has been improving and enhancing its production capacities by using advanced industrial processes and controls as well as digital engineering. Additionally, in 2023, it opened a new 135,000 ft² (12,542 m²) facility in North Charleston, South Carolina. The site operates as the company’s ground-combat vehicle assembly and integration center of excellence. The new site supports assembly and integration for current and future programs of the US DoD and Department of Homeland Security as well as US partners and allies. Moreover, this facility also produces the Sigma mobile howitzer for the Israeli defense ministry and mission-command platforms for the U.S. Army's Command Post Integrated Infrastructure (CPI2) effort.
Another line of action required to ramp up production was diversifying the supply chain and working with both domestic and international companies. “Supply chain continues to be a challenge for everyone,” Savoie notes. “I think there were a lot of things in the past where we had the ability and the confidence that the single source and we really had to broaden our supply chain horizons to be more multi-source”.
At SOF Week, the company is showcasing its Iron Sting (shown below) mobile mortar weapon system, a precision-guided munition. Showgoers may visit the Elbit America booth at #1332.
