Israel, Montenegro sign ‘historic’ defense contract

“This award further expands our NATO customer base,” said Yehuda (Udi) Vered of Israel-based Elbit Systems.

By World Israel News Staff

In what’s being touted by Israel’s Defense Ministry as an unprecedented achievement, Israel has signed a major Government-to-Government defense contract with Montenegro.

Israel-based Elbit Systems announced Monday that in the framework of the binational deal, Elbit was “awarded a contract of approximately $35 million to supply the Montenegrin Armed Forces with Remote Controlled Weapon Stations (RCWS) for the new Oshkosh Defense (Oshkosh) 4X4 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV).”

The company says that it “will perform full integration of the RCWS onboard the JLTV over a three-year period and will provide logistic support for a seven-year period.”

Elbit says that its RCWS “is lightweight…and is mounted externally onboard armored vehicles,” offering “accurate firing on-the-move and is operated via handles and Smart Displays by the gunner from within the vehicle, providing protection for the vehicle’s crew who are safely located inside.”

“We are very proud to introduce our RCWS to Montenegro’s Armed Forces. This award further expands our NATO customer base and strengthens our growing cooperation with Oshkosh,” said Yehuda (Udi) Vered, General Manager of Elbit Systems Land Division.

“We are witnessing a growing demand worldwide for our RCWS, of which many hundreds are already operational onboard a range of land and naval platforms, and we trust that further customers will follow in acquiring our advanced and mature weapon stations,” he added.

Israel established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Montenegro in July 2006, after the Balkan country was admitted to the United Nations as a member state a couple of weeks earlier. The republic declared independence on June 3, 2006, on the heels of a referendum in which a majority of the people in Montenegro voted to break off from Serbia.

In June 2017, Montenegro formally became a member of NATO.