Firm Orders for Soltam
Posted 10/08/07 18:58
By BARBARA OPALL-ROME
TEL AVIV — From unmanned bulldozers and anti-IED jammers to active armor and an array of networked sensors and shooter systems, Israeli firms have developed and are testing myriad new means of protecting ground troops.
A preview of locally developed technologies and systems authorized for display at this week’s annual Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference in Washington reveals the extent to which force protection is driving Israeli modernization plans.
Across the spectrum of combat disciplines, force protection has become a necessary prerequisite for MoD development funding. Once developed, defense and industry sources here say, issues of affordability invariably determine which projects ultimately end up in Israel’s inventory.
And while Israeli procurement officials have not yet committed to many of the new developments to be shown in Washington, a sampling of MoD-approved prototypes and technologies shows that force protection comes in many forms.
For combat engineers, it is provided through advanced robotics that convert bulldozers into unmanned ground vehicles. The Ramta Division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed two unmanned prototypes from U.S.-built Caterpillar platforms: One for the heavy-duty D9T and the other, called Front Runner, based on the Multi-Terrain Loader MTL 257.
Both prototypes feature IAI-developed digital command-and-control technologies that allow for remote-controlled clearance of explosives and other high-threat obstacles in support of ground troops.
Chanan Ben-Dov, Ramta’s director of marketing and business development, said the Israeli military has a requirement for both systems, but the company does not yet have orders.
For infantry, armor and other land force disciplines, new developments are as numerous as they are varied.
Rafael is debuting its Spotlite-M, a mobile version of the firm’s electro-optical Spotlite Mk2 fire detection system.
“The system provides answers to two questions that crews in moving vehicles need answered immediately: What is the threat? And where is it coming from?” said Tal Raz, marketing director for Rafael’s Land Systems Division.
Raz said advanced imaging processing capabilities detect, identify and precisely locate a full spectrum of threats, data for which can be streamed through command-and-control networks to a variety of shooting systems.
“Literally in seconds, and while the vehicle is in motion, the system can simultaneously activate countermeasures and direct fire to any shooter capable of receiving the target coordinates,” Raz said.
Nir Hoffman, Rafael’s Spotlite program manager, said the system can also be adapted for helicopters and other airborne or naval platforms. The “customer-funded” development program began about four years ago, and by the end of the year, Rafael will have its first fully integrated prototype vehicle ready for field testing.
The modular system is designed to accommodate myriad sensors, all of which can be linked for 360-degree, long-range coverage, depending on customer requirements.
Because of its broad coverage area and its ability to assign shooters to approaching threats, Spotlite-M does not compete with active protection systems like Rafael’s Trophy or Israel Military Industries’ Iron Fist.
“Active protection defends a single platform while Spotlite-M can defend against a group of platforms or an entire sector,” he said.
Unveiling IED Jammer
As for the proliferating and increasingly deadly threat of remotely controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Elbit Systems has developed a vehicle-mounted jammer designed to deny enemy use of selected portions of the radio frequency spectrum.
Planned for first-time display at AUSA, Elbit’s anti-IED jammer consists of multiple radio frequency modules housed in a single ruggedized box controlled by the vehicle’s driver.
According to Elbit, the jammer can operate in all bands simultaneously, with frequency overlap between channels allowing operators to focus more power on a particular threat. Company spokeswoman Dalia Rosen said the anti-IED jammer — now emerging after more than a year in development — already has been sold to military users, whom she declined to identify.
Another option aimed at the same remote-controlled IED threat is a suitcase-carried jammer by Elisra electronic Systems, Israel’s premier electronic warfare development house owned 70 percent by Elbit. The Elisra system also can be vehicle-mounted, company executives say, and is designed to block IEDS activated via radio frequencies and other means of communication such as cellular phones and satellite signals.
Yet another, perhaps more efficient way to protect ground troops is through integrated combat and information systems offering so-called full situational awareness.
Elbit and IAI, Israel’s two largest aerospace and defense firms, have developed competing C4I systems for small infantry units and special operations squads. Both the Elbit Dominator and IAI’s TACT C3 systems feature unmanned sensors, thermal imagers and shooters all linked into a network accessed by field laptops and palm-held devices.
And while Elbit and IAI remain fierce rivals in practically all niche sectors of the international market, the two firms are collaborating — at the insistence of their MoD customer — on an unmanned ground vehicle for border patrol and other missions. Sources here say the two firms have created a new company, Genius, to market the AvantGuard unmanned ground vehicle.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military is nearing completion of initial prototype evaluations and has begun negotiations with both firms on prospective follow-on procurement.
“In areas where it makes good economic and marketing sense, we intend to expand cooperation with other Israeli companies,” said Yair Ramati, IAI’s corporate director of marketing. According to Ramati, cooperation is more likely as the firm ventures more heavily into the world of land warfare, where IAI can leverage its capabilities in C4I, tactical UAVs, intelligence systems and weaponry.
Ramati estimated the percentage of IAI’s $2.8 billion annual turnover generated from land warfare-specific sales numbers in the “mere single digits.” Over the next five years, however, he expects land warfare to account for more than 15 percent of total sales.
Firm Orders for Soltam
After nearly two years of extensive field testing, Israel’s Ground Forces Command is negotiating to purchase significant quantities of the Atmos autonomous truck-mounted howitzer system. Built by Soltam Systems, flagship of the privately owned Mikal Group, Atmos is built around a six-wheel-drive truck for fully independent, rapid mobility in all kinds of terrain. The automatic loading system fires 155mm rounds in continuous high-speed salvos — about 80 per hour — at ranges of 41 kilometers.
Moshe Charash, Soltam’s managing director, credits the firm’s automatic laying, inertial navigation and ballistic computation systems for the high precision of Atmos, whose circular error of probability he estimated at dozens of meters. Charash said the synchronized electronic suite feeds and updates exact angles, elevation and other target information directly onto the barrel.
“Everything is computerized, and connected to the Army’s digital command-and control-network,” he said. “So the fire gets where it needs to be faster and more accurately, while logistics needs are kept to a minimum.”
According to Charash, Atmos embodies key lessons from the summer 2006 Lebanon War: “It’s rapidly mobile, so it advances in the echelon right after forward deployed forces. It fires more precise gun artillery at longer ranges, and it provides continuously intensive firepower for more reliable support of the front-line forces.”
Another Soltam system being acquired in quantity by the Israeli as well as the U.S. Army is the Cardom autonomous self-propelled mortar. Israel is deploying the 120mm Cardom on its M113 Zelda troop carriers while the U.S. Army is using the self-contained shorter-range system — provided through U.S. partner General Dynamics Land Systems — for Stryker wheeled vehicles.
Charash said 500 Cardom units have been sold to customers worldwide, and that Soltam has adapted the system to a variety of Western as well as Eastern vehicles.
“Cardom is a fully mature, operationally proven system. Others may have produced limited quantities for initial evaluation, but our Cardom is in full-rate production,” he said.