TEL AVIV – Elbit Systems is challenging state-owned Rafael Ltd. for a greater share of the Israeli market for remote controlled weapons stations (RCWS) with its Dragon, hundreds of which will be delivered to the Israel military by mid-2018.

Once the sole domain of Rafael, whose Katlanit (Lethal) system has been deployed for a decade on stationary posts along the Gaza border and on Namer heavy troop carriers, Elbit's Dragon RCWS is now operational with multiple active duty infantry and engineering units.

It was selected nearly five years ago in what started as a three-way competition with Rafael and Israel Military Industries, but eventually became a sole-source contract to Elbit due to inability of competitors to meet Israel's price requirements, defense and industry sources here said.

"In the end, due to the not-to-exceed target price, Rafael was very frustrated by the bid and didn't submit an offer," a defense source told Defense News.

A Rafael executive confirmed the firm's decision not to bid on the contract back in 2011, due to the "ridiculous" not-to-exceed price demanded by the customer.

Since then, however, he noted that Rafael and the Israeli Defense Ministry have invested "significant funds" to improve the system and are now in negotiations for a follow-on RCWS order for the Namer.

Today, Rafael's improved Katlanit – deployed in over 25 countries under the international marketing name Samson -- remains the official RCWS supplier for Namer, says Lt. Col. Udi Weisbuch of the Technology Branch of the Israeli military's Ground Forces Command.

But in parallel, he said, Elbit has become the supplier of choice for Puma and Achzarit heavy Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) operated by infantry and combat engineering forces.

Both systems are being procured to fire 12.7-mm and 7.62-mm rounds, although Israel is planning to add capabilities for 40-mm grenades in latest versions of Rafael's Namer-based Katlanit RCWS.

Udi Vered, vice president for Elbit Systems and general manager of the firm's Land C4I Division, noted that the contract Elbit is now implementing contains options for equipping Namer vehicles with the firm's Dragon system. "We are in the middle of supplying hundreds of systems for a number of platforms, including options for the Namer," Vered told Defense News.

He noted that the Dragon RCWS, which was designed specifically to IDF requirements, is now in production for the Austrian and other militaries under the name Scout.

"We are many years in the business of overhead remote weapons stations for force protective, so-called closed-hatch operations with a family of systems. Our accuracy is well beyond the user's requirements and we've proven we can meet the most challenging not-to-exceed price demands," Vered said.

With regard to prospects for challenging Rafael for future Namer-based RCWS orders, the Elbit executive flagged the firm's longtime role in providing turrets for the Merkava main battle tank. "I really believe that whoever knows how to produce a 20-ton turret and fire-control system for a tank can assure the same great results for a 300-kilogram system for a heavy APC."

But the Rafael executive, who declined to be identified by name, offered the following statement: "We believe that after the vast investment that both Rafael and the Israel defense establishment put into the Katlanit for the Namer, that the second batch of Namer-based RCWS will come from Rafael and not from any other supplier."

Weisbuch, the officer from Ground Forces Command, said that both RCWS systems – the Elbit Dragon and the improved Rafael Katlanit – are enhancing IDF survivability and maneuvering capabilities by allowing forces to detect and fire upon threats without exposing themselves to the enemy. "The soldiers remain fully protected as they operate these precise overhead systems from inside their armored vehicles."

He noted that the Israel Ground Forces Command has plans to procure additional systems for new Namers as well as HUMVEES and other stationary posts.

About Barbara Opall-Rome

Opall-Rome is Israel bureau chief for Defense News. She has been covering U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation, Mideast security and missile defense since May 1988. She lives north of Tel Aviv. Visit her website at www.opall-rome.com.

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