Rafael Advanced Defense Systems
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. (Hebrew: רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ, formerly Rafael Armament Development Authority), ("Rafael" from Hebrew acronym of "Authority for the Development of Armaments" - רשות לפיתוח אמצעי לחימה) is an Israeli defense technology company. It was founded as Israel's National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Israeli Ministry of Defense; in 2002 it was incorporated as a limited company.[2]
| Type | Government-owned corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Defense, Aerospace |
| Predecessor | Science Corps |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Headquarters | , Israel |
Key people | Yoav Har-Even (CEO and President |
| Products | Military aerospace Missiles Ordnance Defense electronics Protection systems Naval Systems |
| Revenue | $3.075 billion USD (2021)[1] |
| $133 million USD (2021)[1] | |
| Owner | State of Israel |
Number of employees | 8000 |
| Divisions | Missiles and NCW Division Ordnance and Protection Division Manor - Advanced Defense Technologies Division |
| Subsidiaries | RDC (RAFAEL Development Corporation) |
| Website | www |
Rafael develops and produces weapons, military, and defense technologies for the Israel Defense Forces and for export abroad. All current projects are classified.
History
Rafael was established in 1948 as the Science Corps (Hebrew: חיל המדע, known by the acronym HEMED, Hebrew: חמד) under the leadership of Shlomo Gur. It was renamed the Research and Design Directorate (אגף הפיתוח והתיכנון) in 1952. In 1952 David Ben-Gurion decided to split the activities of HEMED into two agencies. The pure scientific research was left with HEMED, while the development of weapons was placed into the new EMET agency.[3]
In 1954 Ben-Gurion decided to change the name of EMET to RAFAEL.[4] It was reorganized as Rafael in 1958.[5]
In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin asked Amos Horev to become chairman of the board of Rafael, following many years in which Horev had served as chairman of Rafael's advisory committee.[6] Horev served as chairman until January 2001.[6]
Restructuring as a limited company
During the early 1990s Rafael was operating at a loss (peaking in 1995, with a loss of $120 million on a turnover of $460 million). Therefore, it was decided to restructure the organization and start operating Rafael as a company. Initially the new company had three discrete divisions, each operating as a profit centre, with a separate balance sheet presented to the newly formed management board.[7]
The restructuring was completed in 2002 when Rafael was formally incorporated as a limited company (although still as a government-owned corporation), while maintaining its technological capabilities through an investment of about 10% of turnover in R&D programs. In its first year as a limited company, Rafael earned a $37 million profit on $830 million in sales.[8] By 2016, Rafael reported annual net profits of 473 million ILS (roughly 130 million dollars), up 3%, compared with ILS 459 million in 2015. New orders in 2016 totaled ILS 10.7 billion, and sales amounted to ILS 8.32 billion, 6% more than in 2015. The company's orders backlog as of the end of 2016 was ILS 21.72 billion, 12% more than at the end of 2015.[9]
On October 14, 2007, the company changed its name from Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd. to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
Technological achievements
- Shafrir (later renamed Python) – one of the most successful air-to-air missiles ever made (during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the IAF launched 176 Shafrir 2 missiles, destroying 106 enemy aircraft)[10]
- Spike – a fourth generation[11] fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile
- Popeye – an air-to-ground missile system
- Popeye Turbo SLCM – believed to be a nuclear-tipped submarine-launched cruise missile[12]
- Iron Beam – laser missile defense system
- Iron Dome – the world's first operational air defense system to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells[13]
- Trophy – the world's second operational active protection system, which successfully destroyed an anti-tank missile launched from the Gaza Strip toward a Merkava Mark IV tank near Nir Oz[14]
- Protector USV – the world's first operational unmanned surface vehicle (unmanned, autonomous naval combat system)[15]
- David's Sling – surface-to-air missile system
Civilian technology transfer
In 1993, Rafael Development Corporation (RDC), a technology transfer company, was established as a joint venture with Elron Electronic Industries; in order to commercialize applications based on defense technologies for medical devices, telecommunications, and semiconductor industries.[16] The company has successfully established and developed several companies including:
- Given Imaging – a pioneer in the sphere of capsule endoscopy.[17]
- Oramir Semiconductor Equipment – developer of laser cleaning technologies for the semiconductor industry,[18] sold to Applied Materials in 2001 for $21 million.[19]
- Starling Advanced Communications (TASE:STLG) – provider of broadband wireless networking solutions for airliners.[20]
- Galil Medical – a developer of cryotherapy solutions.[21]
- SELA Semiconductor Engineering Laboratories – a provider of automated sample preparation tools for semiconductor manufacturers, sold to Camtek Intelligent Imaging.[21]
- 3DV Systems – developers of the ZCam, a time-of-flight camera products for video applications, sold to Microsoft.[22]
- Medingo – developer of a micro pump insulin delivery system consists of two parts: a semi-disposable insulin dispensing patch and a remote control, which allows for discreet personalised insulin delivery. The company was sold to Hoffmann-La Roche's subsidiary Roche Diagnostics for $160 million as well as up to $40 million in milestone payments.[23]
Products
- Air Defense systems
- Air to Air missiles
- Air to Surface missile
- Spice (bomb) Family
- SPARROW family
- Rocks Family, unveiled in February 2019.[24][25]
- Electronic Warfare Systems
- SKY SHIELD Escort Jamming pod
- C-GEM Active Offboard Decoy
- Precision Guided missiles
- Missile upgrade kits
- Electro-optical Precision Integration Kit (EPIK)[26]
- Active Protection System
- Trophy active protection system "Windbreaker" (Hebrew: מעיל רוח)
- Remote-controlled weapon station
- Rafael OWS (nicknamed "MAG Rafael" by the IDF)
- Samson RCWS (Hebrew name: קטלנית)
- Typhoon Weapon Station for naval applications and military ships
See also
References
- ^ a b "Rafael concludes FY 2021 with net profit of $133 million". israeldefense.co.il.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 14 May 2013.
- ^ The bomb is the basement, page 43
- ^ The bomb is the basement, page 113
- ^ Merdor, Monaya M. (1982). "Science Corps (Hemed)". IDF in Its Corps: Army and Security Encyclopedia (in Hebrew). Vol. 17. Revivim Publishing. pp. 17–19.
- ^ a b . MIT Enterprise Forum. 1 January 2001. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
- ^ "Rafael Operating as Gov't Company Since January 1 - Preparatory to Becoming Limited Company". Globes. 1 May 1997.
- ^ "Rafael 2003 net profit: $37m". Globes. 17 March 2004.
- ^ Azulai, Yuval (20 March 2017). "Rafael reports higher profit for 2016". Globes.
- ^ John Pike. "Shafrir". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- ^ . Defense-Update.Com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- ^ Popeye Turbo - Israel Special Weapons. Fas.org. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.
- ^ Anshel Pfeffer; Yanir Yagna (7 April 2011). "Iron Dome successfully intercepts Gaza rocket for first time". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
- ^ HARTMAN, BEN. "Anti-tank missile system stops attack on IDF tank". News Article. Jerusalem Post.
- ^ . Defence Updates. Archived from the original on 3 May 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
- ^ "RDC Rafael Development Corporation Ltd.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- ^ Invest in Israel: Given Imaging 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Israel Business Today
- ^ "SEC Info - Applied Materials Inc/DE - '10-Q' for 7/29/01". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- ^ "List of Public Companies Worldwide, Letter - Businessweek - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "Elron sells entire Galil Medical stake". Globes. 15 March 2010.
- ^ Shelah, Shmulik (22 June 2009). . Globes. Tel Aviv: Globes Publisher Itonut. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
[Microsoft corporate vice president of Israel Research & Development Moshe Lichtman] said, for the first time officially, that "the R&D center helped Microsoft in buying the intellectual property of 3DV Systems, and in the wake of that dozens of the company's employees were recruited to work at the development center."
Alt URL 18 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine - ^ "Roche Acquires Insulin Pump Company Medingo". Diabetes Daily. 14 April 2010.
- ^ Hughes, Robin (20 February 2019). "Rafael unveils Rocks air-to-surface missile". Jane's 360. London. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ^ Ahronheim, Anna (20 February 2019). "Israel unveils Rafael's new advanced bunker buster missile, 'Rocks'". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ^ Zitun , Yoav (6 March 2018). "'Sharp Flame': Rafael's new rocket precision guidance system". Ynetnews. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- The bomb in the basement, Michael Karpin, Ed Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6595-9
External links
- Rafael official website
- Rafael Development Corporation
- Rafael at the LIC-2005 conference