Company Estimates US Market as ‘a Few Thousand Vehicles’
RADA Electronic Industries estimates that the market segment it is addressing for active protection systems (APS) in the United States alone is,“a few thousand vehicles,” according to Dubi Sela, the company’s CEO.
Following a recent announcement by General Dynamics, which MONCh reported on 21 December (click here for story), the US Army is to move forward with Phase II of the IRON FIST LIGHT (IFL) APS programme for the BRADLEY IFV.
IFL is a lightweight APS, providing enhanced survivability for armoured and tactical platforms. RADA’s software-defined radars identify and precisely track incoming threats, from any direction, in real time. The system then intercepts the threat by launching a small warhead and activating it at a safe distance from the protected platform at a precisely calculated moment, defeating the threat through a shock-wave effect.
In phase II of the IFL for BRADLEY project, RADA expects to receive near-term orders for the supply of radars for qualification testing, and the current potential is to equip one US Army brigade of BRADLEY armoured vehicles. This phase is expected to continue into the years 2020 and 2021.
The project is a joint venture between General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Israel Military Industries (IMI, now Elbit Systems). RADA provides the radars to the Elbit/IMI IFL system.
“The IFL is the ideal candidate for protecting the BRADLEY Fighting Vehicle, as the US Army continues its upgrade programme for its primary troop carrier. Fielding active protection capabilities has been identified as a current and urgent need by the US Army. The APS market potential for RADA in the coming years is estimated at a few thousand vehicles of various types, just in the United States, while the total global potential is significantly greater,” commented Mr Sela.
