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IAI’s Elta Systems Develops Variant of WindGuard Radar to Protect New Combat Vehicles

By ARIE EGOZI

Editor Defence Industry

Tel Aviv. Elta, the electronics subsidiary of Israel aerospace industries (IAI), is developing a variant of its WindGuard radar to be used for protecting the new combat vehicles developed now from rockets and missiles.

IAI is one of the Israeli companies that has developed a prototype of an advanced combat vehicle. This is as part of the Carmel project initiated by the Israeli ministry of defense.

 

Zvi Yarom, general manager of the land systems directorate of Elta, told Raksha Anirveda that the WindGuard is the main sensor of the Rafael Trophy active protection systems, installed on the Israeli Merkava 4 main battle and and on the US Abrams main battle tank.

“we are now developing a variant that will fit the new combat vehicle that the IDF plans to acquire ” he said.

IAI has recently completed to supply several hundred WindGuard (ELM-2133) radar systems to DRS Land Systems for the US Army’s Abrams tanks.

The combat-proven radars are installed on IDF’s Merkava battle tanks and Namer armored personnel carriers to protect the crews. The WindGuard is a state of the art phased array Radar which continuously scans the volume around the platform in search of anti-tank threats, including rockets, guided missiles and anti-tank shells. Once a threat is detected, it tracks it and guides the countermeasure system to intercept and neutralize it before the platform is hit.

After becoming operational in 2009 as part of the Trophy active protection system, WindGuard recorded multiple successful operations in combat environments. For their efforts, the systems developers received the Israel Defense Prize.

 

Yoav Turgeman, IAI VP and CEO of ELTA, said, “The strategic partnership between Israel and the USA is reflected in IAI’s commitment to providing our American customers with the most advanced systems to protect their troops in the field. We are pleased that DRS Land Systems and the US Army were satisfied with our ability to meet their shipment schedule. ELTA attaches the utmost importance to completing the project successfully and will continue to collaborate closely with our American customers in the future.”

Aaron Hankins, Executive VP and General Manager of Leonardo DRS Land Systems line of business, said, “Achieving 100 per cent on-time delivery performance in the immensely challenging environment of the past year is nothing short of amazing. Elta’s commitment to the program and to our mutual customers has been exemplary, and we look forward to more success in the future.”

-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist