"Israel Defense" reports that Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) has teamed with Lockheed Martin Company (NYSE: LMT) and Germany's KMW AG to produce the new Cardom self-propelled artillery for the IDF. The companies signed the agreement last week, with the goal of participating in the IDF tender for its next-generation self-propelled artillery.
According to "Israel Defense", the IDF Ground Forces Command plans to replace the Artillery Corps' M-109 self-propelled artillery (called the Doher in the IDF), which has been in service for 40 years, within the next five years. The Ground Forces Command is interested in a 52 caliber autonomous cannon with a 155mm barrel, high rate of fire, and a crew which is as small as needed for its operation
"Israel Defense" says that the new artillery will based on KMW’s AGM cannon, which is assembled on the body of Lockheed Martin' MLRS rocket launcher, and that Lockheed Martin will manufacture the system in the US, so that the project can be funded by US foreign defense aid. It adds that an IAI subsidiary in the US will be involved in the project. IAI will produce the artillery's navigation system and other components.
"Israel Defense" says that the proposed cannon meets the demands of the IDF Ground Forces: it will be fully autonomous, have automatic loading, a firing rate of eight shells per minute, and only two people will be needed to fire it (though it is expected that each team will be manned by 3-4 soldiers, instead of the eight needed for the current M-109)
"Israel Defense" says that IAI-Lockheed Martin-KMW consortium will compete in the tender against the self-propelled artillery offered by Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT), probably in collaboration with the US unit of Britain's BAE Systems plc (LSE: BA), and a proposal by Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) to upgrade the M-109 in cooperation with Germany's Rheinmetall AG (DAX: RHM).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 6, 2013
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