SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM 6-K
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the Month of July 2004
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ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD.
(Translation of Registrant's Name into English)
Advanced Technology Center, P.O.B. 539, Haifa 31053, Israel
(Address of Principal Corporate Offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
|X| Form 20-F |_| Form 40-F
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as
permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): |_|
Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a
Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security
holders.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as
permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): |_|
Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a
Form 6-K submitted to furnish a report or other document that the registrant
foreign private issuer must furnish and make public under the laws of the
jurisdiction in which the registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally
organized (the registrant's "home country"), or under the rules of the home
country exchange on which the registrant's securities are traded, as long as the
report or other document is not a press release, is not required to be and has
not been distributed to the registrant's security holders, and, if discussing a
material event, has already been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other
Commission filing on EDGAR.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
|_| Yes |X| No
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-______________
Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 and incorporated herein by reference is
the Registrant's press release, dated July 20, 2004.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD.
(Registrant)
By: /s/ Ilan Pacholder
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Name: Ilan Pacholder
Title: Corporate Secretary
Dated: July 21, 2004
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. Description
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1. Press Release, dated July 20, 2004.
EXHIBIT 1
UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE SELECTS THALES UK TEAM AS PREFERRED BIDDER FOR
WATCHKEEPER PROGRAMME,
WITH ELBIT SYSTEMS AS SIGNIFICANT PART OF THALES TEAM
Haifa, Israel, July 20, 2004 - Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) reported today
that the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the selection of Thales UK as
preferred bidder for the next phase of the acquisition cycle of the WATCHKEEPER
programme. Elbit Systems is a significant part of the Thales UK team selected
for the programme.
WATCHKEEPER will provide the UK armed forces with an essential Intelligence,
Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability based on
a tactical unmanned air vehicle (UAV) system and will be a key component of the
UK's drive for Network Enabled Capability (NEC).
WATCHKEEPER is a programme of major importance for the British Armed Forces, and
as such, this decision consists a strong vote of confidence in the Thales UK
team.
The Thales / Elbit Systems Joint Venture (JV) will play a significant part as
the provider of core UAV subsystems to the UK's WATCHKEEPER Prime Contract
Management Organization of Thales UK.
The Thales / Elbit Systems JV and its supply chain, will create a significant
number of new jobs in the UK. The Thales UK WATCHKEEPER solution will create or
sustain 2500 jobs across the UK. These high technology jobs in systems
integration, prime contracting, engineering and manufacturing will be within
Thales UK, the Thales WATCHKEEPER team companies and throughout their UK supply
chain.
As the market for UAV systems is growing strongly, the selection for the
WATCHKEEPER programme is a significant milestone in positioning Elbit Systems
and the Thales / Elbit Systems JV as major suppliers of UAV's, both for the UK
and for export.
The Thales UK team intends to supply WATCHKEEPER and address the rapidly growing
worldwide UAV systems market, estimated to be worth around (pound)3bn over the
next 10 years. The operational benefits of the Thales UK team solution include:
a fully integrated ground environment; higher endurance, lower attrition air
vehicles; a minimal logistic footprint and the ability to deploy a full system
to theatre in a single C-130 Hercules aircraft.
The Thales UK led team includes the Thales/Elbit Systems JV company, Elbit
Systems, Marshall SV, LogicaCMG, Vega, Boeing, Cobham, Cubic, Supacat, QinetiQ
and Praxis.
Notes to editors
WATCHKEEPER is due to enter service with the armed forces in 2006 for 30 years.
The full WATCHKEEPER solution is on display at Farnborough International 19-25
July 2004.
For more information on WATCHKEEPER: www.thalesgroup.co.uk/watchkeeper
Thales UK team members and WATCHKEEPER specific locations are:
Thales UK: Crawley, Wells, Leicester, Glasgow Cubic Corporation: : Greenford
Bury St. Edmunds, St Asaph, Taunton, Staines Data links
Prime contractor; sensor payloads; mission
planning management, exploitation and
communications; through life support Boeing: London
US/UK future interoperability support and
JV Co: (Thales/Elbit SystemsJV)Leicester, Cardigan Bay scheduled technology/capability upgrades
Tactical UAV sub-systems supplier
Vega:Welwyn Garden City, Bristol, Fareham
Elbit Systems:Lichfield (UAV Engines Ltd) Training partner
UAV design, UAV engines
QinetiQ: Boscombe Down, Malvern, Farnborough
Logica CMG : Leatherhead Airworthiness consultancy and image data
Command and battle space management systems management
and applications
Praxis: Bath
Marshall SV: Cambridge Programme safety consultancy
Ground station shelters and support
Supacat: Honiton
Cobham:Wimborne, Dorset Ground vehicle
Major sub-assemblies and components
About Elbit Systems
Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international defense electronics company engaged in a
wide range of defense-related programs throughout the world, in the areas of
aerospace, land and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers,
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ("C4ISR"), advanced electro-optic
and space technologies. The company focuses on the uprading of existing military
platforms and developing new technologies for defense and homeland security
applications.
About Thales UK
Thales UK's defense activities encompass optronics, air defense, sensors,
communications and naval systems. The company is the UK's second largest defense
contractor and has been a supplier to the MoD since the First World War. Thales
employs 11,000 staff in the UK and 62,000 people in 50 countries. In 2003,
Thales UK's revenues were (pound)1.2bn.
Contacts
Thales Elbit Systems Ltd.
www.thalesgroup.co.uk www.elbitsystems.com
Guy Douglas Ilan Pacholder, IR Contacts
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Guy.douglas@thalesgroup.com VP Finance & Capital Markets Ehud Helft/Kenny Green
pacholder@elbit.co.il Gelbart Kahana
+44 (0)7813 903274 Tel: 972-4 831-6632 Tel: 1-866-704-6710
+44 01932 824832
Fax: 972-4 831-6659 Fax: 972-3-607-4711
ehud@gk-biz.com
kenny@ gk-biz.com
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