IAI gets new India country manager

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has appointed a new corporate vice president to look after its India operations.

Reservist Colonel Eli Alfassi’s appointment was approved for the position by the IAI board, said a statement issued by the company on Tuesday.

Alfassi has had a long association with India, having been the Israel Defense Force (IDF) military attaché here, as well as the head of the Israeli Ministry of Defense delegation to India. He has also served a five year-tenure as head of IAI’s delegation to India.

The company said it has ‘set itself ambitious goals in the face of challenging competition from leading nations and international companies operating in India’, which ‘has led to a need for management focus so as to create a synergy in IAI’s activities and leverage the company’s technologies’ in ‘this target country’.

The company has supplied India with its Phalcon system for the Indian Air Force (IAF) IL-76 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft. India also operates a variety of IAI-built UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) including the Heron, Searcher and the explosive warhead-carrying Harpy UAV. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is also planning to induct the Kamikaze-action Harop UAV.

Before his decade-long tenure with IAI, Alfassi served as commander of an ‘armored brigade and battalion’ as well as the head of ‘planning administration in the IDF’s operations division’, according to the statement, which also said, “IAI’s president and CEO recommended Eli Alfassi’s nomination as Corporate VP based on his extensive and proven experience of eight years in leading the activities related to India, and his outstanding managerial capabilities in IAI and in the IDF.”

An alumnus of IDF’s National Security Studies Center and Command and Staff College, Alfassi also holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from Tel Aviv University and a Master’s degree in political science and national security from the University of Haifa.