Improving
Israel's Crisis Management is Imperative
A major conclusion from the interim report of the Winograd
Investigatory Commission is the need for Israel to establish
a strong crisis management team, manned by professionals,
having the trust and loyalty of the supreme leadership.
Military Confrontation
with Hamas in Gaza Unavoidable
As rockets slammed into Jewish towns last Tuesday, Israelis
apprehended that the five months "Hudna" (cease-fire)
with the Islamic group was finally over. In the first rocket
attack it had claimed responsibility for in five months,
Hamas fired 39 Qassam rockets and 79 mortars from the Gaza
Strip aimed at nearby Jewish communities. The attacks occurred
as Israelis nationwide celebrated the country's 59th Independence
Day. Read Col. David Eshel's analysis on this subject and
more...
General Atomics was awarded two new contracts worth about $69
million. The larger contract worth about 58 million is funding
serial production of four new Reaper
MQ-9 (Predator B) unmanned aerial vehicles, scheduled for
delivery by December 2009. The company also received another
$10 million contract to develop the Predator
MQ-1B aircraft into a 'Block X' modification, which will
improve the current MQ-1B model into a platform similar to the
US Army Warrior (ER-MP). The Air Force 'Block X' will use a
Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE), support a 3,200 lbs gross take-off
weight, and will carry four Hellfire missiles (2 on each wing,
compared to a single missile on each wing station in the current
model). Apart from the Warrior, the new Block X aircraft could
leverage off technology from US Air Force' Predator B (MQ-9)
program.
In a first-of-its-kind dual missile defense test yesterday,
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) cruiser USS Lake Erie
(CG 70) demonstrated simultaneous ship engagements against both
cruise and ballistic missile targets. The interceptors included
an SM-3 Block IA missile, which destroyed a short-range ballistic
missile target in space while an SM-2 Block IIIA engaged a cruise
missile threat at a lower altitude.
The development of RAFAEL's Trophy
Active Protection System has been completed, including integration
of the system into current AFVs as well as the introduction
of reloading systems, positioning the Isaeli active protection
system as the first
system available in the West. Initial systems are expected
to go into new production and currently deployed Merkava tanks
as well as the new Merkava based armored Infantry Fighting Vehicles
(Namer). While the system has been approved for production,
which still awaits funding allocation. After the recent conflict
in Lebanon (July-August 2006), Active Protection Systems
were identified as a critical complement for the protection
of main battle tanks such as the Merkava
Mk4.
Thales is integrating the AESA version of the RBE2 radar on
the Rafale and is planning to start flight testing soon, following
the conclusion of a series of flight tests on Mirage 2000 test-bed
aircraft. Series production start-up is scheduled for late 2010.
The plan addresses a roadmap recently outlined by the French
Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and the Rafale industry team,
to equip the French Air Force and Navy with Rafale fighters
upgraded with new sensors by 2012.
Planning Systems Incorporated (PSI) has been awarded a new
$10M contract from the US Army’s Natick Soldier Center
for the delivery of Precision
Air-Drop System Mission Planners (JPADS-MP).
These systems are currently being actively used in Afghanistan
and Iraq by the US Air Mobility Command (AMC), the Marine Corps
(USMC) and US Special Forces (SOF) on C-130, C-17 and SOF aircraft.
Ionatron (NASDAQ: IOTN) announced the establishement of a new
organization focused on the development, engineering, production
and support of specialty lasers for military, aerospace, and
security customers. Earlier this week Ionatron was awarded a
$10 million cost-plus, fixed-fee contract from the US Navy for
research, development and demonstration of a transportable laser
equipped vehicle which will demonstrate Ionatron's laser
guided energy effects, and advanced ultra short pulsed laser.
Demonstrations will be completed by April 2009.
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