“Just three days after I joined Elbit, we received an RfQ (request for quotation) for a huge German army tender,” says Harald Pfleiderer, head of project management at the German subsidiary ESDE. “That was about two years ago, shortly after the rebranding of Telefunken Racoms into Elbit Systems Deutschland. I was the only PM who was available, so I wound up taking charge of the project as the bid manager. We submitted the proposal in close cooperation with our colleagues from C4I & Cyber division in Israel and won the contract in December last year. It turned out to be our biggest project.”
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Harald is currently working on that project, to supply soldier radios to the German army. The radios are supplied in two different versions, for soldiers and vehicles, and come together with auxiliary items such as batteries and antennas. The overall numbers of items delivered are several thousand. “This project is innovative by virtue of the integration of these systems into the army,” he says.
“The purpose was to buy a series of products off the shelf that could be quickly integrated into most of the army, which is where our advantage as Elbit came into play. We work in close collaboration with the C4I Division in Israel, to meet needs as they arise in the field. We recently completed the supply of the first radio sets ordered from us, and the client may now place a significant further order. The current project is an especially challenging joint effort – which proves that we can achieve a great deal if we work together.”
Despite the cultural gap, he says, the employees in Israel and Germany have much in common. “They say that Israelis communicate very directly, but if you ask Americans, they’ll say the Germans is the country characterized by directness,” Harald says. “We are similar from that perspective. At my very first meeting with the teams, we agreed to communicate openly and clearly. For me, working in cooperation like this has been very enjoyable.”
In his free time, Harald keeps in close touch with his brother and his niece and two nephews. “In summer we play golf, as much as possible – it’s one of my favorite hobbies. In winter I go on ski vacations around Austria,” he says. “Food is another of my great passions and often do barbecues with friends. I like cooking good food but may have to start working out more,” he smiles.
