Tel Aviv: The Romanian Ministry of Defence has selected the Rafael Spyder air defence system. The contract is valued at about €1.9 billion. Rafael and the Romanian Ministry of Defence have not yet signed the agreement, but according to the ministry’s statement, the decision has been made and the signing is a legal process.
Until now Spyder was selected by Morocco, the Czech Republic and Greece. The system has proved its capability to intercept UAV and missiles. Rafael has upgraded the systems and it is now offered as the All in One version.
Brig General (retd.) Zvika Haimovich, former commander of the Israeli Air Defence Forces said that there are obvious parameters that make the Spyder system so popular. “The Spyder system in its new version is mobile and this is a big advantage in combat affecting survivability and effectiveness,” he added.
He further said that while the system is considered in the class of short range air defence systems (SHORAD), it is also affective in the medium range class and that gives it an advantage against a larger list of threats. “Every such truck carrying the launcher and the sensors, is actually an independent battery and this is very important in an area that has to deal with multiple threats,” he elaborated.
Brig General (retd.) Haimovich added that the price of the Spyder All in One version also contributes to its popularity. “When the threat comes in the form of multiple targets like swarms of armed drones, the price of the interceptors becomes a major consideration,” he said.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
