The echoes of the removal of the Israeli defense industries from the prestigious Eurosatory exhibition and the farce in the French courts have subsided, and it seems that these did not affect the demand for Israeli products. At the same time, Germany broke the local sales record, the US approves a large potential sale to Taiwan and the Nordic countries join forces due to the fear of Russia. All this in the weekly defense industries corner.
The Israeli startup that is able to direct a fighter jet to a UAV operator
The Israeli defense industry has long since included not only the big companies, but also young, hungry and useful start-ups – at least some of which are suitable for dual use. That is, for both the defense sector and the civilian sector. A young company whose product is being used in Israel and is in the process of being examined in interesting countries such as Ukraine, is R2.
The company was founded 3.5 years ago by Dr. Yeftah Richter, and it provides a product that provides Full Spectrum Defense. This means that a hostile party can be located on the basis of any of its products that transmits a signal, whether it is a UAV, a cell phone, a smart watch or headphones. On Panig, the company’s CEO, explains that the system knows how to locate, locate and identify all the bodies in the space: “Everything in the physical dimension is visible to the eye. But behind the scenes there is a technological system that is responsible for the operation.”
The R2 sensor / Photo: R2 Wireless
A UAV, for example, has a channel that may transmit between the operator and the vehicle. As soon as that transmission is made, R2 knows how to identify the type of transmission, what the object is – and the location of the operator. The product has possible civilian uses such as protecting airports, but in the military world it is especially critical Due to the multitude of unmanned means. In the Russia-Ukraine war, UAVs are used in the air, as well as unmanned vehicles on land. Also, the Houthi rebels only recently attacked the merchant ship Tutor with the help of a captured UAV. R2 has the ability to locate the source of danger, as the company’s sensor can also sit on ships.
Fennig points out that there are other significant dangers that can be faced with R2, such as “jamming” – providing a wrong signal to damage the GPS navigation capabilities. An issue that is familiar to anyone who travels in the last few months in the northern region, and sees that it is located at “Rafik Hariri Airport in Beirut”. The Israeli startup is able to identify a hostile entity that will carry out such an action. “The field also includes electronic warfare, spoofing and other operations that we know how to locate and identify, including providing a location,” he concludes.
The demand for spiked missiles continues to grow
The war in Ukraine has led to a growing demand for anti-tank missiles from the Rafael Spike series, including in Latin America. This is reported on the ZM website. According to the report, 45 armies around the world are already using Spike missiles, and they have purchased a total of more than 80 thousand missiles. At the same time , a senior official at Rafael told ZM that Lithuania has decided to purchase LR spike missiles. This is one model of the entire spike series that can be launched from about 45 platforms on land, at sea and in the air.
According to foreign publications, the Spike LR and MR, for example, have the same launch station, which includes the command unit, the thermal sight and a tripod. The system is designed so that the missile can be launched in less than 30 seconds. One of the options of the system is “launch and forget”, where the fighter launches the missile at the target, and it makes its way independently to the target.
One of Spike’s new sources of interest is Argentina, which is considering the implementation of launchers as part of a modernization process for TAM VCTP tanks. This is just one layer of Buenos Aires’ broad interest in Israeli systems, with a broader plan including the possibility of purchasing used helicopters from the US – and carrying out a significant upgrade of them in Israel.
The sale of IMCO to the USA
The Imco Group announced this week that its American subsidiary ADTI won an order totaling approximately $9.5 million (approximately NIS 35 million) for the production and supply of subsystems and harnesses for electricity management. The systems will be delivered over the next 18 months.
ADTI, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, serves as the US business and manufacturing arm of the defense division of the IMCO Group. At the same time, in Israel, IMCO is a supplier and partner of the Ministry of Defense’s Chariot and Armor Directorate (MANTAK) in the development, production and support of advanced armored vehicles such as The Tiger, the Eitan and the Chariot tank.
The historic deal of the German giant
German defense giant Rheinmetall has received a historic order of €8.5 billion ($9.1 million) worth of 155mm shells from the German military. According to estimates, part of that order of shells considered to be in high demand will be directed to Ukraine, after their price has quadrupled since the outbreak of the war.
An interesting issue in the deal is that not only Ukraine will benefit from shells based on the purchase made by the Bundeswehr, but also the Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark. According to the contract, the supply of the shells will indeed continue for years – but will begin as early as 2025. At the same time, Rheinmetall is working to speed up their production capacity to 700,000 shells per year – ten times more than before the war in Ukraine.
The huge US sale of suicide drones to Taiwan
In the shadow of the growing Chinese threat, the US has approved the possible sale of more than a thousand small roving weapons (suicide drones) to Taiwan. The expected supply includes the Switchblade 300 and Altius 600 M models, which proved themselves in the framework of the Russia-Ukraine war. The TWZ website states that the goal is to prepare Taiwan with as many relatively cheap roving weapons as possible, in preparation for a possible military confrontation with China.
The American roving weapons may be directed, for example, against Chinese amphibious ships – with the aim of damaging Beijing’s invasion attempts. Today, Taiwanese military units are already practicing extensive use of guided anti-aircraft missiles in a coastal defense scenario. In conclusion, the roving armaments may provide added value to the defensive capabilities required against China.
The Nordic alliance against Russia
European countries internalize that Russia is a threat to the entire continent, and therefore join forces in unusual collaborations. Norway, Sweden and Finland recently announced the establishment of a military land “corridor” between the three countries, which is designed to increase the efficiency of transporting troops and equipment between the three. “This is an important milestone,” declared Norway’s prime minister, Yunus Gaher Stora.
The corridor is focused on the north of the three countries, that is, in the Arctic region – which may indicate that Norway, Sweden and Finland are afraid of the Russian threat from the direction of the Arctic Ocean. The melting of the glaciers in the area facilitates the sailing traffic that is increasing every year, as is the threat of Russia, which has satisfied its desire that more ships that sailed from the Far East towards Europe in the past through the Indian Ocean area – move to Putin’s backyard. As a result, Russia is upgrading its military presence in the region, which could become a threat.
At the same time, Norway decided on its own to divert an F-35 squadron to the air force base in Radofus, with the aim of placing them in underground facilities located deep in the mountains. This is a new-old move because in Oslo they decided to take such a step already in 1938, when the winds of war in Europe began to strengthen. The cessation of storing fighter planes in the mountains was only carried out at the end of the Cold War.
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