November 20, 2019 | International, Land
November 18, 2019 - Eurospike, a joint venture between Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Diehl Defence GmbH & Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH has signed a multi-year framework contract for the supply of SPIKE (also known as MELLS in Germany) Missiles & launchers to the German Army.
The missiles and launchers will be manufactured in Germany by local German companies, in keeping with RAFAEL's global policy of teaming up with domestic industry, resulting in knowledge transfer and local job creation.
The contract was signed by representatives from Eurospike and BAAINBw in a ceremony that took place at the beginning of November in the offices of the German MOD (BAAINBw) in Koblenz Germany.
As part of the framework contract, the first order was made for the supply of 1500 SPIKE rounds, as well as hundreds of RAFAEL'S new ICLU (Integrated Control Launch Unit) dismounted missile launchers.
The multi-year framework contract will allow the Bundeswehr to continue procuring additional SPIKE Missiles in the next few years to reach its goal of high launcher-to-missile ratio.
The German Army is already currently using both the dismounted portable SPIKE (MELLS) launcher as well the as the vehicle-mounted launcher on the German army Puma, Marder & Wiesel.
SPIKE is a cutting-edge precise, multi-platform, multi-mission and multi-range electro-optical missile Family, with capabilities of fire-and-forget, as well as fire, observe and update, allowing attack of hidden targets.
With 33 SPIKE missile users around the world, Germany is among 19 other SPIKE users in the EU and NATO. More than 30,000 SPIKE missiles have been supplied worldwide to-date, with over 5500 SPIKE missile firings, both in training and in combat.
Moshe Elazar, EVP, Head of RAFAEL's Land and Naval Division: “This is a significant contract for Eurospike and thus for RAFAEL, as a leading supplier of 5th generation ATGM in the world. It will undoubtedly cement the German Army's position as one of the strongest ATGM forces in Europe. The SPIKE missile and launcher cross-nation commonality enables the nations to manage joint SPIKE missile stocks, create joint procurement and maintain mutual support. In combination with local production within Europe by Eurospike, SPIKE is a truly common European missile.”
Watch SPIKE in action, click here for video.
For more information please contact Ishai David at ishai@rafael.co.il
View source version on Rafael Advanced Defense Systems: https://www.rafael.co.il/press/german-army-acquires-1500-spike-missiles-and-hundreds-of-launchers/
March 24, 2023 | International, Other Defence
A call for participants to apply for the challenges is to take place in mid-2023, and up to 30 participants are to be selected for each challenge.
September 6, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force's stealthy fighters will not meet an 80 percent mission-capable rate requirement set by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, top officials revealed Wednesday. Appearing at the 2019 Defense News Conference, Lt. Gen. Mark Kelly, deputy chief of staff for operations, said that the F-22 and F-35A would both fall short of the capability target set by Mattis shortly before his exit from the Pentagon. The F-16, however, “should” hit that target rate. In a memo first revealed by Defense News last October, Mattis ordered the Pentagon's F-35, F-22, F-16 and F-18 aircraft inventories to hit 80 percent mission-capability rates. A July investigation by sister publication Air Force Times revealed that in fiscal 2018, when Mattis issued the memo, the service was in a readiness nose dive: Of the 5,413 or so aircraft in the fleet, the percentage able to fly at any given time decreased steadily each year since at least FY12, when 77.9 percent of aircraft were deemed flyable. By FY17, that metric plunged to 71.3 percent, and it dipped again to 69.97 percent in FY18. Analysts were skeptical that such an increase could be achieved in just one year, and it appears that skepticism was well-founded. However, Kelly argued, not all mission-capable rates are created equal. “We learned a lot from the MC80 [mission-capable 80 percent] effort. One of the big things we learned is that our long-range readiness strategy, which takes a lot more consideration than MC80, is frankly a more viable strategy,” he said of an effort that takes a more holistic approach to whether needed assets are ready to use. “MC80 is actually a very important metric of how ready we are to go to war, but there is an easy way for the Air Force to achieve MC80 on any airframe, and that's to just stop flying. We actually flew more,” Kelly said. The F-22 struggled to hit 80 percent in large part because the low-observable coating on the plane requires slow, careful work to maintain, which drags down the mission-capable rates. The F-35A, meanwhile, was being stood up and flown more during this period than ever before, which was beneficial for the service, but meant that mission-capable rates were impacted by operational use. “So facts matter,” Kelly concluded. “The facts are: We won't make it, but the data behind the facts is we're actually having pretty good success.” During the panel, Air Force leaders were asked if the 386 squadron target, first unveiled last September, is still a hard goal for the service. Lt. Gen. Timothy Fay, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, didn't provide a concrete answer, but he did indicate that capability — as opposed to capacity — may be a more important standard for the future. “386 was an number we worked very hard on,” Fay said. “But it's not just a question of capacity. ... Yes, we have a force that's too small,” but the service is now “looking at new technologies, new ways to use those technologies.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2019/09/04/f-22-f-35-wont-hit-mattis-readiness-targets/
January 17, 2023 | International, Naval
The U.S. Navy and its closest allies and partners continue their quest to become interchangeable, but they canât do it without international supply chains.