Rafael's Armoured Shield Protection system will be implemented largely in the US army

Rafael's Armoured Shield Protection system, to protect armored vehicles from missiles and mortar shells, is beginning  it's export potential. The US Army, which has already ordered systems for $ 193 million for its Abrams tanks, is expected to increase its order to about $ 500 million, while increasing the number of tanks it will install.

Rafael which developed the defense system, to protect armored vehicles from missiles and mortar shells, is beginning to realize its export potential. The US Army is expected to increase its order to about $ 500 million, while increasing the number of tanks it will install.
Rafael is struggling to provide an easy version of the defense system for the Bradley armoured vehicles and the US Army's Stryker, many of whom are in operational service. Last month, Rafael demonstrated the operation of the system on the Bradley at an event that took place in its field of experiments in Shdema in the south, where 130 representatives of ten armies of Western countries were considering arming themselves with active defense systems. Rafael is the only one whose system is in operational service, in the IDF, which has already ordered 1,000 systems for Merkava tanks 3-4 and NAMAR armored personnel carriers.Rafal is anticipating initial contracts with countries that took part in the demonstration in 2019.
"Rafael is the only company in the world that has an assembly line for an active defense system," says a source in the company. "We were the only ones who could really commit to exact delivery times and real costs. Than in 2007, even though it was a larger amount, because our production cost estimates turned out to be wrong. " The cost of a windbreaker system is estimated at several hundred thousand dollars per armored vehicle.

Rafael is preparing to increase the proportion of American components in the defense system that it will supply to the American navy, against the backdrop of the new American defense assistance structure, which begins in 2019, begins to reduce the rate of aid that can be converted from dollars to shekels for purchases from companies in Israel. In the past, this rate was 25% and will gradually decrease to zero in the next few years, forcing the Israeli defense industries to export to the US Today, 60% of the system's components are manufactured in the United States. Production in the US will enable the IDF to continue to purchase the system through American aid.
According to Rafael's report, in a series of experiments last month, Rafael's defense system intercepted a lighter model of more than 300 anti-tank missiles and RPGs of various types. The new system is presented this week for the first time at AUSA, the largest security exhibition in the US The show also features the light version of Arrow Durban on the new US Army armored vehicle, the JLTV, but without a demo contract. The British army is considering supplying its tanks with the IMI system, as part of the upgrading it is planning for them, and is trying to find funding for it.