Elbit Systems of America Sets in Motion Succession Plan as Raanan Horowitz To Retire

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Luke Savoie has been appointed president and CEO of Elbit Systems of America (Nasdaq: ESLT), the company’s board of directors announced.

Savoie, formerly president of intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance at L3Harris Technologies succeeds Raanan Horowitz, who is retiring.

Horowitz, who is closing a 34-year career at Elbit, will stay on through March 31 to ensure a smooth transition. Savoie will join the Fort Worth-based defense contractor subsidiary at the end of the month.

Elbit America is a subsidiary of the Israel-headquartered defense electronics company whose product line covers domains such as unmanned systems, electronic warfare, signals intelligence, communications, and surveillance.

Savoie, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, has over 20 years of aerospace platform operation, integration, and mission system design industry experience. He served as a gunship aircraft commander and U-28 instructor pilot at Air Force Special Operations Command.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Savoie served a number of deployments in the Global War on Terrorism.  

Savoie has held sector leadership roles during his nearly eight-year tenure at L3Harris. He previously served as director of programs at Sierra Nevada Corp. and senior vice president of business development at ForceX.

Savoie has an executive MBA with a concentration on international business/trade/commerce.

Horowitz was appointed president and CEO in 2007 after serving as executive vice president and general manager of EFW Inc.

Revenue from U.S. government contracts totaled approximately $1 billion in 2022 to represent approximately 19% of total sales across Elbit, according to the parent company's annual report.

Elbit America has been active the past four years, acquiring the night vision technology business of L3Harris for $350 million in 2019. In 2021, the company paid $31 million to acquire BAE Systems’ Rokar GPS receiver unit. In the same year, Elbit acquired Sparton Corp. for $380 million.