Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. (formerly: RAFAEL Armament Development Authority רשות פיתוח אמצעי לחימה), known as RAFAEL or Rafael, (also spelled as Raphael or Rephael, and in Hebrew: רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ) is the Israeli authority for development of weapons and military technology. Rafael is a former sub-division of the Israeli Defence ministry and is considered a governmental firm.
Rafael develops and produces fighting-technologies for the Israel Defence Forces as well for exporting abroad. All current projects are classified.
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History
Rafael was established in 1948 as the Science Corps (Hebrew: חיל המדע) under the leadership of Shlomo Gur, and was renamed to the Research and Design Directorate (Hebrew: אגף הפיתוח והתיכנון) in 1952. It was finally reorganized as Rafael in 1958.[1]
Products
- Wolf Armoured Vehicle jointly produced with Hatehof Netzer Sereni[1][2]
- LITENING targeting pod - precision targeting system.
- Typhoon Weapon System - stabilized naval weapon station (SNWS)
- Protector USV - an unmanned surface vehicle with Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems
- Python 5 - Air-to-air missile with full-sphere capabilities.
- Popeye (AGM-142) Air-to-surface standoff missile
- Spike anti-tank guided missile.
- SIMON breach grenade - Door breaching rifle grenade (RELM/GREM)
- WallBuster - Wall Breaching Grenade Launcher
- CARPET minefield clearing
- Add-on armour: passive armour and reactive armour coats.
- Electronics and electro-optics.
- Rafael Overhead Weapon Station
- Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station - a Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS) installed on armoured fighting vehicles or naval vessels and can be controlled from within the cabin. Various armaments are possible:
- 7.62 mm machine gun (known as MAG Rafael)
- autocannon in caliber of 20 mm up to 40 mm
- 30 mm autocannon combined with two ATGMs pod and 7.62 mm light machine gun
- TROPHY Active Protection System for armoured fighting vehicles [3]
- Skylark\Skylite canister-launched mini-UAV [4]
- High-tech systems for the Merkava main battle tank and the Merkava APC "Namer".
- MATADOR short range anti-armour weapon
See also
- Israel Defence Forces
- Military equipment of Israel
- Israel Military Industries
- Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)
- Elbit
- El-Op
- Soltam
References
- ^ Merdor, Monaya M. (1982). "Science Corps (Hemed)". IDF in Its Corps: Army and Security Encyclopedia. Volume 17. Revivim Publishing. pp. pp. 17–19. (Hebrew)
External links
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