Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

Type	Government-owned corporation
Industry	Defense, Aerospace
Predecessor	Science Corps
Founded	1948
Headquarters	Haifa, Israel
Products	Military aerospace Missiles Ordnance Defense electronics Naval Systems
Revenue	$1.851 billion USD (2010)
Net income	$170 million USD (2010)
Number of employees	7,000
Divisions	Missiles and NCW Division Ordnance and Protection Division Manor - Advanced Defense Technologies Division
Subsidiaries	RDC (RAFAEL Development Corporation)
Website	rafael.co.il

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. (Hebrew: רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ, formerly: RAFAEL Armament Development Authority), known as RAFAEL or Rafael, (also spelled as Raphael or Rephael; Hebrew acronym of "Authority for the Development of Armaments" - רשות לפיתוח אמצעי לחימה) is an Israeli defense technology company. It was founded as Israel’s National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Ministry of Defense; in 2002 it was incorporated as a limited company.^[1]

Rafael develops and produces weapons, military, and defense technologies for the Israel Defense Forces and for export abroad. All current projects are classified.

History

Israeli soldier with Spike anti-tank missile launcher

Python-5 (front) and Shafrir 1 (back) missiles

Popeye standoff missile

Rafael was established in 1948 as the Science Corps (Hebrew: חיל המדע‎, known by the acronym HEMED, Hebrew: חמד‎) under the leadership of Shlomo Gur. It was renamed the Research and Design Directorate (Hebrew: אגף הפיתוח והתיכנון‎) in 1952. In 1952 David Ben-Gurion decided to split into two agencies the activities of HEMED. The pure scientific research was left with HEMED, while the development of weapons was placed in the new EMET agency.^[2]

In 1954 Ben-Gurion decided to change the name of EMET to RAFAEL.^[3] It was reorganized as Rafael in 1958.^[4]

In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin asked Amos Horev to become chairman of the board of Rafael, following many years in which Horev had served as chairman of Rafael's advisory committee.^[5] Horev served as chairman until January 2001.^[5]

Restructuring as a limited company

During the early 1990s Rafael was operating at a loss (peaking in 1995, with a loss of $120 million on a turnover of $460 million). Therefore, it was decided to restructure the organization and start operating Rafael as a company. Initially the new company had three discrete divisions, each operating as a profit centre, with a separate balance sheet presented to the newly formed management board.^[6]

The restructuring was completed in 2002 when Rafael was formally incorporated as a limited company (although still as a government-owned corporation), while maintaining its technological capabilities through an investment of about 10% of turnover in R&D programs. In its first year as a limited company, Rafael earned a $37 million profit on $830 million in sales.^[7]

On October 14, 2007 the company changed its name from Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd. to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

Technological achievements

• Shafrir (later renamed Python) - one of the most successful air-to-air missiles ever made (during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the IAF launched 176 Shafrir 2 missiles, destroying 89 enemy aircraft).^[8]
• Spike is a fourth generation^[9] fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile.
• Popeye is an air-to-ground missile system. Popeye Turbo SLCM is believed to be a nuclear-tipped submarine-launched cruise missile.^[10]
• Iron Dome - The world’s first operational air defense system to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells.^[11]
• Trophy - The world’s second (the first was the Russian Drozd and Arena (countermeasure) APS) operational active protection system, successfully destroyed an anti-tank missile launched from the Gaza Strip toward a Merkava Mark IV tank near Nir Oz.^[12]
• Protector USV - The world’s first operational unmanned surface vehicle (unmanned, autonomous naval combat system).^[13]
• David's Sling - Surface-to-air missile system.

Civilian technology transfer

In 1993, Rafael Development Corporation (RDC), a technology transfer company, was established as a joint venture with Elron Electronic Industries; in order to commercialize applications based on defense technologies for medical devices, telecommunications, and semiconductor industries.^[14] The company has successfully established and developed several companies including:

• Given Imaging (NASDAQ:GIVN) - a pioneer in the sphere of capsule endoscopy.^[15]
• Oramir Semiconductor Equipment - developer of laser cleaning technologies for the semiconductor industry,^[16] sold to Applied Materials in 2001 for $21 million.^[17]
• Starling Advanced Communications (TASE:STLG) - provider of broadband wireless networking solutions for airliners.^[18]
• Galil Medical - a developer of cryotherapy solutions.^[19]
• SELA Semiconductor Engineering Laboratories - a provider of automated sample preparation tools for semiconductor manufacturers, sold to Camtek Intelligent Imaging.^[19]
• 3DV Systems - developers of the ZCam, a time-of-flight camera products for video applications, sold to Microsoft.^[20]
• Medingo - developer of a micro pump insulin delivery system consists of two parts: a semi-disposable insulin dispensing patch and a remote control, which allows for discreet personalised insulin delivery. The company was sold to Hoffmann-La Roche's subsidiary Roche Diagnostics for $160 million as well as up to $40 million in milestone payments.^[21]

Products

• Shavit 2 sounding rocket
• Tal 1 and Tal 2 Cluster Bombs

^[22]

See also

• Israel Defense Forces
• Military equipment of Israel
• Israel Military Industries
• Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)
• Israel Shipyards
• Israel Association for Automatic Control
• Elbit (El-Op)
• Soltam

References

1. Dun & Bradstreet: Rafael Company Profile
2. The bomb is the basement, page 43
3. The bomb is the basement, page 113
4. Merdor, Monaya M. (1982). "Science Corps (Hemed)". IDF in Its Corps: Army and Security Encyclopedia (in Hebrew). Volume 17. Revivim Publishing. pp. 17–19.
5. "Amos Horev". MIT Enterprise Forum. January 1, 2001. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
6. "Rafael Operating as Gov’t Company Since January 1 - Preparatory to Becoming Limited Company". Globes. May 1, 1997.
7. "Rafael 2003 net profit: $37m". Globes. March 17, 2004.
8. John Pike. "Shafrir". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
9. "Defense Update issue 2-07 (May - June 2007) : Electro-Optically Guided Weapons". Defense-Update.Com. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
10. Popeye Turbo - Israel Special Weapons. Fas.org. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.
11. Anshel Pfeffer; Yanir Yagna (7 April 2011). "Iron Dome successfully intercepts Gaza rocket for first time". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
12. HARTMAN, BEN. "Anti-tank missile system stops attack on IDF tank". News Article. Jerusalem Post.
13. "Protector". Defence Updates. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
14. "RDC Rafael Development Corporation Ltd.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
15. Invest in Israel: Given Imaging
16. Fairchild launches Oramir Israel Business Today
17. "SEC Info - Applied Materials Inc/DE - ‘10-Q’ for 7/29/01". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
18. "List of Public Companies Worldwide, Letter - Businessweek - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
19. "Elron sells entire Galil Medical stake". Globes. 15 March 10. Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. Shelah, Shmulik (2009-06-22). "Microsoft confirms 3DV acquisition". Globes. Tel Aviv: Globes Publisher Itonut. Archived from the original on 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2009-06-23. [Microsoft corporate vice president of Israel Research & Development Moshe Lichtman] said, for the first time officially, that "the R&D center helped Microsoft in buying the intellectual property of 3DV Systems, and in the wake of that dozens of the company's employees were recruited to work at the development center."
21. "Roche Acquires Insulin Pump Company Medingo". Diabetes Daily. 14 April 2010.
22. Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis: IHS Jane's | IHS. Articles.janes.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.

• The bomb in the basement, Michael Karpin, Ed Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6595-9

External links

• Rafael official website
• Rafael Development Corporation
• Rafael at EurpStory 2004
• Rafael at the LIC-2005 conference

Coordinates: 32°52′06″N 35°05′35″E / 32.8684°N 35.0931°E