Germany buys aircraft self-defense systems from Elbit for $260 million

Several Airbus A400M military transport planes of the German Air Force stand on the runway of a military air base on Jan. 2, 2019, in Wunstorf, Germany. (Thomas Starke/Getty Images)

JERUSALEM — Elbit Systems will supply its J-MUSIC suite, a directed infrared countermeasures system, to Airbus’s Defence and Space division for installation on German Air Force A400M transport aircraft in a $260 million deal, the Israeli company announced on July 28.

The announcement stated that all systems will be supplied within 6 years, following a procurement decision by the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Operations of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces.

So-called Directed Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM) systems offer defenses against infrared-guided missiles, especially ground-launched ones.

The announcement comes after Elbit Systems Deutschland received an order on Dec. 23, 2024, from Lufthansa Technik to equip the German government’s Airbus A350 aircraft with the J-MUSIC defense system.

According to Elbit, its DIRCM solutions have been deployed operationally on a wide range of military and commercial aircraft globally. Customers include governments, air forces and defense ministries from countries such as Israel, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Brazil.