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Analysis: New enemy-fire detection system
Haifa, Israel (UPI) Oct 4, 2007 Soldiers will soon have access to updated electro-optic enemy-fire detection systems, which can identify small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank missiles, the Israeli defense company Rafael announced last week. "The inability to accurately locate enemy fire causes many casualties, ineffective and excessive firing and most importantly, keeps the initiative on the battlefield in the hands of the enemy," the company said in a statement announcing the new product, called the SpotLite-M. "The SpotLite-M joins the SpotLite-P (previously SpotLite Mk 2) as the mobile version of the well-known system that is capable of accurately and immediately detecting, locating and thereby enabling reaction to enemy fire sources," the statement said. The system's 360-degree video coverage is analyzed using "advanced image processing capabilities with a sophisticated camera," Rafael said. The company said the system suits land-based platforms, such as tanks, as well as airplanes or navy ships. "The vehicle under fire can react to the threat by using a remote controlled weapon station, changing positions, releasing a smoke screen or other countermeasures," Rafael said. "Simultaneously, (the) coordinates of the firing source can be sent to any shooter capable of receiving those coordinates, whether it be a tank, attack helicopter, anti-tank missiles, (or a) sniper." The company said development of the SpotLite-M is being funded by several Rafael customers, and the goal is to install a prototype on a vehicle by the end of this year. The announcement comes a month after Rafael unveiled its next generation of combat vehicle armor system, the M-TAPS, or Multi-Threat Armor Protection System. The installed M-TAPS system can deflect rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosive devices, explosively formed projectiles, "high-speed fragments from artillery bombs and armor-piercing projectiles from heavy machine guns," Rafael said at the time. These "make up the majority of threats to troop vehicles in Iraq, Afghanistan and in other current conflicts," Nehemia Shachar, the company's head of the Protection Systems Sector of the Ordnance and Protection Division, told United Press International last month. According to Dun & Bradstreet Israel, Rafael "develops and produces state-of-the-art armaments for the Israel Defense Forces and Israel's defense system, while deriving its economic strength from international sales." Based in Haifa, it is the second-largest government-owned defense company in Israel and was recently named to the Top 100 list of a leading defense industry publication. "Rafael's products strengthen the IDF's qualitative edge, and most systems have been battlefield proven," Dun & Bradstreet continued in its Dun's 100 guide to Israeli companies. The firm also makes "naval, air and ground precision weapons, electro-optic systems, electronic warfare systems, C4I and unmanned systems, acoustic defense systems, armored protection and training systems," the company said. It is divided into a missile division, a systems division, an ordnance systems division, and a propulsion and explosive systems division which "together provide users with complete air, naval, ground and space systems and solutions," according to the Dun's 100 guide. In the Defense News Top 100 ranking, Rafael climbed from No. 57 to No. 49 this year, with sales of just over $1 billion, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com
Integral Team Keeps Vital MRAPs Up And Running
Al Taqaddum, Iraq (SPX) Oct 04, 2007In some places in the United States, boys spend a good amount of their youth taking apart and toying with the mechanical parts of an engine. For many of these hobbyists, oil runs though their veins and the sound of a well-tuned 409 cubic centimeter engine brings them to exhilaration. Many of them grow up and become mechanics, but some combine their love of driving machines with another passion, serving their country. |
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