Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. today announced the opening of a subsidiary in Melbourne, Australia in preparation for huge Australian military tenders scheduled for publication in the coming years. The company said it was preparing for tenders by the Australian land and naval forces. Rafael believes that the Australian army is planning on procuring hundreds of millions of new armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) at a total cost believed to be in the billions of dollars.
Rafael wants to promote its new Trophy active anti-missile defense equipment for AFVs and Spike anti-tank missiles, which it is developing and producing, to the Australian authorities. In recent years, Rafael has sold Spike missiles to dozens of countries around the world, and the US armed forces recently expressed interest in the Trophy system for installing on its Abrams tanks.
Commenting on the Australian defense market, Rafael executive VP marketing Giora Katz told "Globes," "There is potential for deals amounting to several hundred million dollars. Opening the company in Australia is part of Rafael's global strategy for creating local partnerships with various countries in order to meet the growing demand from many countries for having some of the work performed by local companies."
Rafael already has cooperative ventures with Australian companies Bisalloy for the supply of metal for production of military systems and Varley for construction of infrastructure for joint production of Spike missiles.
"We haven't had any substantial activity in Australia in recent years, but 15 years ago, there was widespread activity - some from waves of procurement trends. Now we're returning to this market in full force," Katz says.
Rafael previously supplied Typhoon missiles and remote-controlled weapons systems to the Australian navy. It is believed that the Australian army will published its first tender next year for active AFV defense, in which Rafael plans to compete with Trophy. This system, which is regarded as a global breakthrough, is installed on the IDF's Mark 4 Merkava tanks. The system can detect firing of RPG anti-tank missiles and rockets at tanks and armed personnel carriers, categorize the threat, and intercept it automatically at a safe distance from the threatened vehicle.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on November 5, 2017
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