Israel’s pavilion at the 2012 Eurosatory defense and security exhibition this June will include some 24 members of the Israeli defense industry plus SIBAT, the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The companies represented provide everything from water purification systems to tank components to military software systems to munitions and weapon systems. Here is just a sampling:
Israel Military Industries: Probably best-known for the awe-inspiring Desert Eagle handgun, IMI produces a wide range of defense products. These include the M339 Multi-Purpose tank round and the M26IM hand grenade used by the Israeli Defense Force, 76mm naval gun rounds, artillery ammunition, the 105mm lightweight and 120mm RG120 tank gun systems, and the Advanced Stabilized Remote Weapon Station (ASRWS). The company also offers a variety of add-on armor and survivability systems and operates a proving ground with advanced instrumentation for artillery and tank ammunition testing.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems: Rafael is another major player in the Israeli defense industry. It is perhaps best-known in the U.S. defense community for its reactive armor, used on the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, M113 APC, Stryker, U.S.M.C. LAV III, FV432, and CV90. It produces kits to retrofit light armored vehicles such as the M113 to air defense and anti-armor roles and designed the CARPET system for clearing minefields and IEDs. Its enhanced survivability products also encompass naval warfare, including the LESCUT reactive expendable torpedo decoy and the Shade torpedo defense suite for submarines designed to defeat acoustic-homing torpedoes. For air warfare, Rafael provides the Python 5 and Derby air-to-air missiles, the Spike ER and NLOS and Popeye air-to-surface missiles and the Spice precision weapon guidance kit, along with a range of electronic warfare, command and control, intelligence and reconnaissance, air defense, and test and evaluation products.
Israel Aerospace Industries: IAI manufactures a number of different unmanned aerial systems, fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft upgrade packages, naval missiles and anti-missile systems, and command and control suites, but its best-known product is probably the Arrow anti-theater ballistic missile system. Now in its Arrow III variant, the system is in place defending Israel against attack. Another important component of the system also produced by IAI is the EL/M-2080 “Green Pine” radar system, a multi-mode phased array radar capable of tracking dozens of theater ballistic missiles. The company’s Missile Division produces naval munitions like the Advanced Naval Attack Missile and the Barak-1 and Barak-8 point defense systems for engaging both missiles and aircraft.
The pavilion will also include plenty of companies producing less “awesome” but vitally-important defense products. These include Urdan Metal & Casting Industries (armored vehicle hulls and components), Ashot Ashkelon Industries (combat vehicle drivetrain and munitions components), Elbit Systems (wide range of defense-related electronics and optical systems), Marom Dolphin (body armor and tactical gear), and Pulse Inteco Systems (night vision and laser rangefinders and designators).
The Israeli pavilion will be located in Hall 6 for this year’s Eurosatory.
