Kisharon offers Ora the ability to... bloom everyday Israeli firm offers ‘world’s most advanced missile’ to Royal Navy
Urgent Appeal 2-3 May
ONE OF ISRAEL’S largest defence companies – in partnership with a UK technology firm – is to offer “the most advanced ship-launched anti-surface missile of its kind in the free world” to the Royal Navy.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is working with British company Thales to provide the Navy the chance to acquire the next-generation weapon.
It is the latest in a series of deals that Israeli defence giants have made in the UK. In January, Elbit Systems was part of a consortium that won a £120 million contract from the Royal Navy to train sailors and kit out a new submarine school. Elbit’s UK subsidiary is also providing the British Armed Forces with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, a system that helps network target acquisition systems on the modern battlefield. An Israeli yachtsman recently told reporters that he was asked if his boat could be used as part of a naval drill near Cyprus. The UK has also looked at Israeli drones and drone defence systems.
IAI, Israel’s leading aerospace company, also makes radar, including the equipment used by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, and the Barak line of air defence. For the new work with Thales, the Royal Navy is getting a look at a missile called Sea Serpent, which is being pitched for Type 23 frigates as an anti-ship missile. IAI said in a statement in mid-April that it can “overmatch a rapidly expanding range
and intensity of current and emerging threats”. The technology is based on Israel’s Gabriel line of missiles. A similar system has been supplied to Finland. Sea Serpent has a range over 200km and uses a “sophisticated data analysis and weapon control system
to provide precise target detection, discrimination and classification”, the company says. “It overcomes both kinetic counter-fire and electronic countermeasures of increasing sophistication, so that the missile can locate and attack its target in littoral
[shore], open-ocean and overland environments”. This means it can get around decoys and operate in naval environments that are increasingly complex. For instance, ships now may face terror threats such as explosiveladen boats or threats similar to those in the Persian Gulf where Iran uses fast boats to harass US ships.
IAI calls Sea Serpent “the most advanced ship-launched anti-surface missile in the free world”. It has partnered with Thales because of the UK company’s proven track record of delivering “complex sensor and weapon solutions for the Royal Navy”, IAI said. “Both companies are fully committed to maximising UK prosperity and creating employment and investment opportunities.” This means using local UK industry and expertise for maintenance and potential upgrades in the future.
The missile pitch for the UK is the latest in IAI’s partnerships. It is also working with Edge in the UAE to develop a counter-drone system that could use lasers, jammers and “explosives” to take down drones. This came in the wake of IAI attending IDEX, a large defence confab, in the UAE in February. Israel has been able to speak more openly about possible deals in the Emirates after the Abraham Accords peace deals were signed last year. Potentially this makes IAI a key player not only for the UK and the UAE, which is a key partner, but also India, another strategic market for Israel, which has historic ties to England. Thales operates in India as well, where it recently pitched its Starstreak air defence missile with the local Bharat Dynamics. Bharat Dynamics also works with IAI on other projects, illustrating the interconnected nature of these relationships across continents.
The UK has also looked at Israeli drones and drone defence systems’
IAI is working with a UAE company to develop a counter-drone system