The Australian government has informed Israeli defense company Elbit that its military will stop using its Battle Management System from mid-June.
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First reported by Australian Defense Magazine, Elbit Australia learned of the decision without receiving any explanation.
According to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, tensions between Elbit and the Australian Department of Defense had been simmering over the Israeli company imposing "huge premiums" on the BMS because it has a monopoly on the system.
"People are getting [fed up] with Elbit exploiting their monopoly to impose huge premiums," one unnamed Australian officer told the ABC.
"And there are definite concerns that the Israelis are backdooring the system for information," he added.
The BMS provided by Elbit enables commanders to better communicate and coordinate during complex battlefield scenarios and operations with electronic displays of maps and other data.
Elbit's BMS technology allows army commanders to better coordinate various land assets during complex battlefield scenarios, where previously they had to rely on "analogue" methods such as maps and radios.
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The project first began in 2009 and was fully operational by 2015.
A statement by Elbit Systems of Australia said the company "strongly refutes the security rumours raised in recent media articles.
"Elbit Systems of Australia utilizes secure software development processes in collaboration with the Department of Defence, including the provision of all source code.
Elbit Systems of Australia will continue to work closely with the Australian Defence Force to deliver its network capability requirements, utilizing our 250-strong workforce, including 80 military veterans and 100 systems and software engineers.
"Elbit Systems of Australia is expanding and enhancing our proven ability to bring world-leading innovative technologies to meet Australian capability requirements for the Australian Defence Force, homeland security and emergency management agencies into the future," the statement concluded.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
