Israel's Elbit Systems Wins £87m Contract on US-Mexico Border Fence

Israeli company Elbit Systems, the largest supplier to the Israeli military, has been awarded a $87m contract from the US Department of Homeland Security to produce and install surveillance systems for the US-Mexico border fence.

The contract is for an unspecified number of observation posts to be built along the US-Mexico border fence in the area of Nogales, south of Tuscon.

Elbit Systems was involved in the West Bank wall separating the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. The company provides "intrusion detection systems" and infrastructure support for the barrier.

Arizona's Republican senator John McCain said: "Arizonans have been waiting more than a decade for the Department of Homeland Security to place the needed technology along our border to support the Border Patrol and fully secure our southern border.

"After many months of delay, the awarding of this contract to Elbit Systems is an important development toward fully securing the border in Arizona. These Integrated Fixed Towers in southern Arizona will give our agents the ability to detect, evaluate and respond to all illegal entries crossing our border."

Elbit Systems is the Israeli military's largest supplier of drones, military technology and surveillance. Its drones are described on its website as "the backbone of the Israel Defence Force's UAS [unmanned aerial system] force". They have been used on Palestinian civilians in strikes on Gaza.

As part of its US tender, Elbit said that Homeland Security needed to "adopt a more complete border security system, which combines radar and electro-optical sensors, unattended ground sensors, unmanned air systems, and manned or unmanned ground vehicles to enhances agents' flexibility and responsiveness".