Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Field Intelligence Corps’s has fielded an advanced reconnaissance vehicle called ‘Granite’, based on IAIs’ EL/I-3302 Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance Vehicle (ISRV) developed by ELTA Systems Ltd. Elta has integrated the mission payload on the SandCat, an armored vehicle based on Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Ford 550 model. The vehicle has full armor protection and concealed telescopic mast, which can be erected rapidly as the vehicle halts.
Granite will augment and later, replace HMMWV based Racoon, delivered by Rafael in the early 2000s. Both vehicles are equipped with mast mounted multi-sensor payloads comprising a surveillance radar, and day/night electro-optical observation system.
Unlike the task specific Racoon, ISRV was designed to provide a as a hub for tactical intelligence gathering operations. The system architecture, user interface and reduced workload enables operation by multiple users assigned to different tasks, or a single operator supporting routine surveillance activity through semi-automated means,including slaving EO payloads to the targets spotted by the radar.
The vehicle carries the new EL/M-2207 electronically scanner array (AESA) detecting man-size targets at a distance of eight kilometers, with EO payloads such as long range POP-300 recognizing such targets from seven kilometers and designating targets for engagement by precision guided weapons. Elta designed the ISRV to deploy forward observations using the Man Portable Ground Observation & Surveillance System (MNPGOSS) and lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles, supporting manned or unmanned forward observations. The system also integrates with supported units can be performed over the IDF new ‘digital army program’ (Zayad).
