Israel

The Israeli Ministery of Defense (IMOD) OFEK program (Horizon in Hebrew, often referred to as OFEQ) will be awarded the prestigious 'Israel's Defense Prize for 2022' for the group's achievements that jointly developed, produced, and deployed Israel's most advanced observation satellite – OFEK-16.

General Robotics is introducing at Eurosatory 2022 a new version of its PITBULL RCWS equipped with Smart-AI features. With the new AI-driven capabilities, armored vehicles and unmanned platforms substantially improve situational awareness, response rate, and firepower.

The Directorate of Defense R&D (DDR&D) in the Ministry of Defense together with the US Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD) and the Merage Institute, will hold a first-of-its-kind competition – the Mobile Standoff Autonomous Indoor Capabilities Challenge in short: the “MoSAIC”. The competition will incorporate operating commercial robots and drones in an urban setting, in the city of Yeruham, simulating the challenges on the future battlefield.

Heven Drones, a fast-growing Israeli drone technology company, has unveiled at ISDEF 2022 an integrated robotic solution combining an aerial multirotor and unmanned ground vehicle for land and air operation. The solution was jointly developed by Heven Drones and Roboteam, an Israeli tactical ground robotic systems provider. The companies began working on the project responding to a specific requirement for defense and homeland security applications raised by a customer. They are now exploring additional use cases for land and air robots to maximize efficiency in other applications.

Israel's 'Iron Beam' high-power laser air and missile defense system is moving forward, following today's IMOD decision to add hundreds of millions NIS to fund the full-scale development. More investment will be allocated for production and fielding. of the high-power laser system designed to intercept rockets, mortars, and UAVs. According to Rafael's CEO, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yoav Har-Even, “the ‘Iron Beam’ system, is the most powerful laser system of its kind in the world."

Israel’s C-UAS expert Skylock has unveiled at the UMEX exhibition in Dubai this week a new rocket-shaped hard-kill drone inhibitor countermeasure called Sky Interceptor, that can disable hostile drones at a range of 1,100 m’. A booster-extended range version can reach up to 3 km.

Israel's Ministry of Defense, Rafael, and IAI have completed testing the C-Dome system onboard Israel's Navy Magen corvette, the lead ship of the Saar-6 Magen class. The test included the interception of targets simulating rockets, cruise missiles, and drones launched from the shore, simulating realistic threats the vessels could face at sea and on missions protecting Israel's offshore facilities in the Mediterranean Sea.

Elbit Systems unveiled today a new version of its SkylarkTM 3 Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (STUAS) equipped with a hybrid propulsion system. According to the company, the use of a battery-powered electric engine with an internal combustion engine triples the endurance and offers up to 18 hours of operations.

Today, the Middle East's International Maritime Exercise (IMX) 2022 began. It is the region’s largest maritime exercise and the world's largest unmanned exercise with more than 80 unmanned systems from ten nations participating.

Fire control systems expert SMART SHOOTER, introduced today the SMASH Dragon application for armed drones. The new system employs an advanced remotely controlled robotic weapon payload that fits on different drones or other unmanned aerial platforms. The system successfully completed live firing tests and is currently under advanced stages of development.

Israel has signed an order for more than two billion $ for the purchase of 12 CH-53K helicopters, with an option to purchase six more. The first helicopters will arrive in Israel by 2026 and will replace the old CH-53D Yasur helicopters, that are planned for decommissioning in 2025.

The US Army is deploying one of the new Iron Dome batteries to Guam, to be tested as part of the Island's defense against cruise missiles. This deployment is far away from the hot spots in Syria and Iraq, where US forces suffer repeated attacks and could use Iron Dome's combat-proven capabilities to defeat missiles and drone attacks.

HevenDrones, an Israeli developer of heavy drones announced an alliance with US-based Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), for the development and commercialization of hydrogen fuel-cell-powered heavy-lift drones and related support equipment and infrastructure required for their operation. Together, the companies plan to provide an integrated solution to power and refuel HevenDrones’ next-generation fleet with the key objective of providing extended flight times and range.

The FGCV demonstrates IAI/ELTA’s ability to deliver innovative tools that provide a new level of flexibility, resilience, and survivability to field units, improving the maneuverability, situational awareness, and lethality of each element and the entire formation as a whole. It also confirms the company’s ability to contribute proven capabilities and technologies for the benefit of the important Next Generation Fight Vehicle (NGFV) Program.