Elbit Systems has been awarded a $15 million contract by Israel's defence ministry for additional upgrades of the Israeli air force's (IAF) Lockheed Martin C-130H fleet.
To be performed over a two-year period, the new deal is a follow-on from a previous modernisation contract signed in 2012 and will enhance the transport aircraft's navigation and flight management systems to enable operations in commercial airspace.
Gadi Kuperman, business development manager for military airlifter upgrade programmes at Elbit, says in future the work may also be required on the service's rotary-wing assets, and, longer-term, elements of it will be needed for combat aircraft too.
The IAF has recently begun talks with Lockheed Martin about the possible purchase of an additional three C-130Js, adding to the three aircraft it ordered in 2010.
Flightglobal's Ascend Online Fleets database records the service as operating six C-130Es and 10 of the H-model variant, although the former are to be phased out.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
