AP,
Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. has signed a cooperative agreement with a German defense company to install laser homing devices on Leopard tanks, according to a company statement released Wednesday.
The state-owned Israeli company and the Rheinmetall Defense Electronics GmbH will jointly offer the gun-launched system on the Leopard 1 and 2 battle tanks, the statement said. It said the homing devices will extend the German-made tanks' firing range.
The companies announced the deal at the Eurosatory conference being held in Paris this week. Financial terms of the deal weren't released.
The homing device will give the tanks a firing range of more than 6,000 meters (yards), providing “pinpoint precision kill capability against armored targets,” the statement said. The system will increase the tank's “firepower and survivability,” it added.
Germany has exported Leopard tanks to a number of European countries and Australia.
A Rheinmetall subsidiary currently manufactures the tank's fire-control system, while the Israeli company develops a precision-guided, gun-fired missile for large guns and launchers.
