ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Harris has won a $189 million contract to provide an integrated battle management system to the United Arab Emirates armed forces, the company announced Monday.
The contract total is already nearly aligned with the amount of business Harris did in the Middle East in 2016 -- roughly $200 million -- making the deal "a big one," Christopher Tucker, company vice president for international business development, told Defense News at the International Defense Exhibition in Abu Dhabi.
Harris' 2016 international revenue was just over $1.6 billion.
The company won the contract through a competitive bid process, according to a Harris spokeswoman. The company was among three finalists along with Raytheon and Thales.
The battlefield management system will be called the Emirates Land Tactical System and will bring the UAE land forces’ old command-and-control system from analogue to a digital platform, Tucker said, and is designed to integrate battlefield functions using a common operating picture to include tracking friendly force units at the brigade level and below, intelligence; integration of plans and orders; and personnel and logistics information.
The ELTS will be fielded to one brigade headquarters and subordinate units in what is considered an initial operational capability. Beyond that, "we believe that this could be a multi-year opportunity, but that is in the future," Tucker said.
Harris’ regional headquarters are based in Abu Dhabi and the ELTS team "has worked very closely with the Emirates land forces to understand their requirements, determine the best integrated solution and present that to the point where they are very, very satisfied with the proposal we have provided," Tucker said.
The company has been operating in the region for over 50 years and has provided tactical communications and other capabilities to many countries here, according to Tucker. "Our goal is to continue to demonstrate that proven performance in the region and work with the different customers to develop specific solutions for them."
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.