Defense Leaders Series: Elbit CEO Eric Fox talks about the need for constant innovation

We're constantly innovating, constantly investing in the future, constantly trying to give our warfighters, our Marines, our soldiers the best of what we have to offer, give them that overmatch capability to make them more survivable, more lethal on the battlefield

We're here at Elbit America in Roanoke, Virginia

We're going to talk with Eric about some of what the company does and what it builds. Eric, tell us a little about Elbit and kind of its history

Yeah, we opened our doors here in Roanoke, Virginia in 1959, way back, starting with Generation Zero

We've been part of the modernization effort throughout the past few decades

Generation 1, Generation 2, up until today's state-of-the-art, which is Generation 3

So we've been a part of the Roanoke Valley for over 65 years now

very proud of our tradition and our heritage here in the Roanoke Valley

And a lot of our employees have family members, generational family members that have worked in our facility

so it's really exciting to be part of that heritage here. And some of those night vision devices have been in service for decades, and we've seen a lot of different iterations

Can you talk about just how you guys try to adopt new technology or try to put things into the systems that improve them over time

Yeah, and that's part of our culture and our heritage at Elbit America

So that innovation process starts years in advance. You know, it doesn't happen overnight

You've got to have the engineering talent. You've got to have the ideas. You've got to have the will to put the money behind those ideas

So really excited that we were at the forefront of yesterday's technology, the PVS-14

We brought it to market. Today's Anvis or aviation night vision goggles, we brought those to market

And now we're working on currently delivering product to the United States Marine Corps

the squad binocular night vision goggle, and also the U.S. Army, the enhanced night vision goggle binocular

Both of those capabilities are the most advanced, most technically capable night vision goggles on the market today, and we're not stopping there

We're continuing to invest in the future. We're working on next-generation night vision technology that can see further clearer and continue to drive that overmatch for our service men and women And I know that key components of those are made here Recently you added another part You can do this kind of in for other parts that you used to get outside of Elbit

Talk a little bit about that for us, what we're seeing right here behind us. Yeah, sure. Where we're standing is in our power supply production area

We insourced this manufacturing over the past two years and really knocking it out of the park

Like I said, we've got a heritage in our engineering and innovation

but we've also got a heritage in manufacturing excellence. And that's something that we're very proud of as part of our culture, continuous improvement

All of our employees, we're dedicated just getting better each and every day. So very successful in sourcing effort

All of these employees are a testament to that success, now operating three shifts in this area as well as other areas in the factory

So very exciting to be a part of our manufacturing growth as well

It demands fairly high. Obviously, you guys build the full devices, the ones that you said, you know, soldiers and sailors and marine and even airmen are probably going to be carrying at some point

But you also make components other people use to build theirs. You talk about the importance of some of that work

Yeah, absolutely. So our image intensifier tube is the low light sensing device

It is what makes a night vision goggle or a night vision binocular work

So without that image intensifier tube, there is no there is no night vision. It's just a binocular

And so yeah, we sell those capabilities, the image intensifier tube to other OEMs

to other platforms, and as I mentioned, we're working on a next generation low-light sensor

our next generation image intensifier. We don't want to, we'll just call it next generation. Gen

3 is current state-of-the-art, it'll be next generation, but it'll have applications beyond

the warfighter, the soldier, the Marine. It'll have applications as a digital

platform for ground combat vehicles, for aerial systems, for unmanned systems because it will have the capability to be a digital sensor as well. So really

excited about the applications that that sensor, that innovation opens up for us

as a business. And while that's pushing forward to some really interesting technology, what you guys are putting out right now is still fairly

revolutionary for conventional forces to finally have the ENVG Bravo Could you talk a little bit just a big picture of what it offers that maybe the previous night vision did not offer Sure sure yeah some of the legacy night vision systems in the military are image intensifier only so

really they help you see in the dark and that capability is amazing anybody

that's looked through a night vision goggle and knows that that capability

definitely delivers a punch but what ENVG B does is it brings a thermal sensor

that's integrated into the sensor. So not only are you seeing a low light image

that provides really great resolution, but now you have a thermal image that's

great for target detection. And those are the two capabilities, when put together

really deliver an overmatch capability that our adversaries around the world don't have, can't match. ENBGB also brings in the capability to do

augmented reality. So now you can set up navigation waypoints. There's a compass

heading in the night vision goggle that the soldier can see to help keep them

on track. And you can just imagine, you know, us civilians carrying around our

iPhone or Google Maps. It's helping us to get to somewhere faster, right? Fewer

missteps, fewer missed turns. That's the capability that we can provide to those

soldiers. It also enables plugins to ATAC so that you've got blue force tracking, identifying friend

and foe. It helps make sure that when we know where bad guys are, make sure that, you know, our forces

are staying out of harm's way, making sure they come home safe also makes them more lethal knowing

where the bad guys are, which is absolutely a part of it. So I understand, you know, U.S. soldiers and

Marines and sailors get some of the best equipment we got, but also we provide some of this to our

partners and allies in other nations. Could you talk a little bit about that process and what that's all about

Yeah, absolutely. So we sell direct commercial sales to our allies around the world

And it is export controlled, right? So our allies aren't necessarily getting these same capabilities that our U.S

servicemen and women are getting. But they are getting top-notch quality systems, no doubt about it

All regulated by the U.S. government. and we out there and have our product in over 85 countries around the world So this is a significant part of our business and definitely something we very proud of that heritage to being not just a US supplier of night vision capabilities but an international supplier

for our allies. And with the existing systems, the stuff going to foreign partners and allies and also to our own troops

I mean, you got a lot of work going on here. You got enough people to make that happen? Yeah, no, it's a really good point

So yes, we have enough today, but not tomorrow. So we are actively in the process of hiring people

Really excited to bring them in, not just to our power supply area that we're sending in here, but other parts of the factory

We've got over 700 employees here in Roanoke, Virginia now and are looking to be close to 800 by the end of the year

So it's a very exciting time to be part of our Warfighter Systems Division of Elbit America

Looking around here, I've seen some folks with some t-shirts on. You have some veteran employees

You yourself were in the military. Tell us a little bit about the company's commitment to working with veterans

Yeah, that's something I'm very proud of. And I'd say all of Elvin America is very proud of

Myself, I'm a Navy submarine veteran. We did have a night vision on our periscope

I wasn't running around with night vision goggles. But it is cool to come back and now be leading a business that is serving our servicemen and women around the world

And, you know, so that's something that our mission to provide innovative solutions that protect and save lives is what has drawn me to Elbit America

When I wake up in the morning, why am I going to work each day

It's to protect and save lives. And all of our employees have that same mindset

So we do have a very strong veteran population that's a part of our workforce, which you can imagine, you know, that's why they volunteer to serve in our armed forces

and that's an appeal for them to join a company that has that mission

gives them that feeling when they wake up in the morning, I'm going to do something that matters

You've got a lot of moving parts that have all kind of come together and connect with this new technology

It sounds really exciting. It is. A really exciting time to be part of Elbit America

I think you've probably seen that on the smiles on the people's faces as you've been around our campus here in Roanoke this week

And yeah, the future is definitely bright. Well, Eric, it's been great to see some of this stuff

I really appreciate you letting us in here to see some of how these devices are built and made

And good luck to you in the American. Yeah. Thank you, Todd. Thanks for visiting