Elbit’s $28.1B Backlog and Airborne Laser Push: What the Defense Coverage Is Missing

C4ISRNET and Defense News reported this week on Elbit Systems’ development of airborne laser weapons for Israeli Air Force fighter jets and helicopters, framing it as a significant counter-drone and missile-defense milestone. Our company intelligence adds material depth to what that program represents financially and strategically.

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Our Data

Elbit’s full-year 2025 results, released March 17, put the airborne laser program in sharper context: the company closed 2025 with $7.9B in revenue and a record $28.1B order backlog — up from the $25.2B figure we tracked through September 2025, representing roughly $2.9B in net new bookings in a single quarter. That backlog carries a 66–68% international mix, meaning the laser program’s domestic IDF application is the visible tip of a much larger export-oriented franchise.

The directed-energy push sits inside a broader DIRCM/EW franchise that our contract database shows generating over $685M in discrete awards in the past 18 months alone: a $260M Airbus J-MUSIC DIRCM order (September 2025), a $150M European fleet DIRCM contract, a $275M Asia-Pacific EW/DIRCM suite, and a $228M Iron Fist APS follow-on for U.S. Army Bradley IFVs. Airborne laser is the next logical layer in that stack — a high-energy complement to the infrared countermeasures Elbit already has embedded on Airbus and allied platforms.

Financially, the company executing this program is not the same one that reported a -$6M operating cash outflow in Q1 FY2024. By Q1 FY2025, operating cash flow had inflected to +$184M. Gross margin reached 24.9% in Q3 2025 (non-GAAP 25.2%), with operating margin at 8.9% GAAP / 9.7% non-GAAP — approximately 1.5 percentage points of year-over-year expansion. The balance sheet was further reinforced by a $588.8M equity raise in May 2025 and an Israeli credit rating upgrade to ilAA+.

One deployment signal worth flagging: Singapore’s operationalization of Elbit’s Orbiter 4 and Hermes 900 UAVs (reported February 2026) confirms active APAC penetration — the same geography where Elbit recently appointed a new EVP for Global Business Development and where Seagull USV mine countermeasure deliveries are contracted. The laser program, if export-cleared, enters a customer base already in procurement cadence.

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What They Missed

The airborne laser story was covered as a product milestone. What neither outlet examined is the valuation stress test that milestone must pass. Elbit’s market cap reached approximately $31.3B in February 2026 following a ~124% stock rally in 2025, with trailing P/E near 68.6x and forward P/E near 47.9x — multiples that price in near-flawless execution of programs like this one.

Directed-energy weapons for fast jets are among the most technically demanding integration challenges in defense electronics. Elbit’s DIRCM pedigree is real, but airborne laser at TRL-ready, export-approvable scale is a different program risk profile. Our analysis also flags that Q1 FY2025 free cash flow included a one-time $57M Israeli Land Authority payment and $170M in contract liability increases — items that flatter the cash generation picture and won’t recur mechanically.

The competitive frame also matters: Anduril and Shield AI are targeting the autonomous mission-software layer that Elbit’s Dominion-X OS occupies, and U.S. export control dynamics could constrain the laser program’s addressable market in precisely the APAC and European theaters where Elbit’s growth thesis is concentrated.

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Bottom Line

Elbit’s airborne laser program is a credible next step for a company with a proven DIRCM franchise and a $28.1B backlog to fund it — but at 68x trailing earnings, the market is already paying for success that battlefield validation and export clearance have yet to confirm.