Page 18 - Defence Industry Guide #57

18 DEFENCE NEWS
ADM’s Defence Industry Guide 2023 | Edition 57 | www.defencesuppliers.com.au
IAI LOOKS TO EXPAND IN AUSTRALIA
ARIE EGOZI | ISRAEL
WHILE the execution of the coopera- tion agreement between Israeli Aero- space Industries (IAI) and NIOA’s Australian Missile Corporation (AMC) reportedly remains on hold, the Israeli company is nonetheless expanding its local operation.
According to Oded Sheshinski, managing director of IAI Australia, the recent general elections and revi- sions in the Australian defence bud- get have ‘delayed the implementation of the cooperation agreement’ signed with the AMC in June 2021.
According to the agreement, Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) confirmed its interest in cooperating with NIOA’s AMC. In a statement after the signing of the agreement, both companies said they believe that their capabilities are ‘synergetic’ and the joint effort will pro- vide ‘leading innovative local solutions’ for the benefit of Australian industries.
“As a Guided Weapons and Explo- sive Ordnance (GWEO) enterprise panel partner, the AMC is working with Government, Defence, and in- dustry as the enterprise transitions to work program delivery. The AMC col- laboration model is well placed to sup- port Defence in developing its plans,” Lee Goddard, CEO of the Australian Missile Corporation, said.
“Since May last year we have linked up with more than 320 leading de- fence, research and aerospace part- ners who are at the cutting edge of world-leading systems. Our focus and commitment remain clear: to work collaboratively with our partners and Defence to develop this critical sover- eign defence capability.
“Our next steps will involve working with Defence and the GWEO Strate- gic Partners, Raytheon Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia, on a road- map that meets the GWEO capability elements.”
In the meantime, IAI is offering the Commonwealth what it calls a ‘very advanced autonomous maritime
system’ that has been developed in recent years. Although the technolo- gies used in this system are classified, sources told ADM that it will be “a real breakthrough” in autonomous maritime systems.
Sheshinski told ADM that the Rus- sian invasion of Ukraine has created a ‘new thinking’ about Australian de- fence needs.
“We are now in the midst of an ef- fort to establish local companies with Australian partners in almost every technology that IAI has developed. We made a decision to transfer technolo- gies and go for local production of our systems if they serve Australian de- fence needs,” Sheshinski said.
Sheshinski confirmed that an offer of an ‘advanced autonomous maritime system’ was made to Defence but re- fused to give any details: “This is still classified.”
He added that in the wake of the war in Ukraine, Australia has had “a different look” at the need for proven air defence systems.
“We are offering operational, com- bat proven systems like the Barak MX and the reactions are promising,” Sheshinski said.
IAI’s Barak-MX is a modular air defence system and is designed to ad- dress missile and aircraft threats. It operates both in marine platforms and land, and belongs to the Barak missile family and the company says it is ca- pable of ‘simple integration’ with any existing legacy or sensors.
IAI says that all Barak MX Land de- ployable components (BMC, launch- ers with interceptors and Radars) can be operated from permanent infra- structure or can be truck mounted and deployed to temporal operational sites.
In 2017, Defence decided not to re- new the lease on IAI’s Heron UAV. Ac- cording to Sheshkinski, the company is now offering the RAAF a ‘number of advanced UAVs’. Finally, Sheshinski revealed that IAI is also offering its systems that are aimed at protecting military bases from UAVs and armed drone attacks, having identified the need for such systems following armed UAV attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen on targets in Saudi Arabia.
ABOVE: IAI’s Harop loitering weapon system.
IAI