Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

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 Israeli Ministry of Defense; in 2002 it was incorporated as a limited company.[2]

Not to be confused with Dassault Rafale.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
Government-owned corporation
IndustryDefense, Aerospace
PredecessorScience Corps
Founded1948 (1948)
Headquarters
Haifa
,
Israel
ProductsMilitary aerospace
Missiles
Ordnance
Defense electronics
Protection systems
Naval Systems
Revenue$2.37 billion USD (2016)[1]
$134 million USD (2016)[1]
OwnerState of Israel
Number of employees
7,000
DivisionsMissiles and NCW Division
Ordnance and Protection Division
Manor - Advanced Defense Technologies Division
SubsidiariesRDC (RAFAEL Development Corporation)
Websiterafael.co.il

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

History
Rafael's Iron Dome air defense and C-RAM system.
Israeli soldier with Spike anti-tank missile launcher
Python-5 (front) and Shafrir 1 (back) missiles
Popeye standoff missile
Rafael's Trophy active protection system, "Windbreaker", on an Israeli Merkava Mk 4 main battle tank.

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 (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.[3]

In 1954 Ben-Gurion decided to change the name of EMET to RAFAEL.[4] It was reorganized as Rafael in 1958.[5]

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.[6] Horev served as chairman until January 2001.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8] By 2016, Rafael reported annual net profits of 473 million ILS (roughly 130 million dollars), up 3%, compared with ILS 459 million in 2015. New orders in 2016 totaled ILS 10.7 billion, and sales amounted to ILS 8.32 billion, 6% more than in 2015. The company's orders backlog as of the end of 2016 was ILS 21.72 billion, 12% more than at the end of 2015.[9]

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

Technological achievements

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.[16] The company has successfully established and developed several companies including:

  • Given Imaging – a pioneer in the sphere of capsule endoscopy[17]
  • Oramir Semiconductor Equipment – developer of laser cleaning technologies for the semiconductor industry,[18] sold to Applied Materials in 2001 for $21 million.[19]
  • Starling Advanced Communications (TASE:STLG) – provider of broadband wireless networking solutions for airliners.[20]
  • Galil Medical – a developer of cryotherapy solutions.[21]
  • SELA Semiconductor Engineering Laboratories – a provider of automated sample preparation tools for semiconductor manufacturers, sold to Camtek Intelligent Imaging.[21]
  • 3DV Systems – developers of the ZCam, a time-of-flight camera products for video applications, sold to Microsoft.[22]
  • 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.[23]

Products
gollark: I'll put you down as neutral evil.
gollark: Hmm.
gollark: Or, well, you didn't break anything irrevocably.
gollark: Hmm. Yes. Well. That's probably for the best, since you didn't break anything before I was able to declare you literal bees.
gollark: On the Things and Stuff server we had it set up so everyone was admin, ironically until you came along and renamed all the channels.

See also

References
  1. "Rafael reports higher profit for 2016 - Globes English". Globes.
  2. "Globes Dun's 100 - Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd". Archived from the original on 2013-05-14.
  3. The bomb is the basement, page 43
  4. The bomb is the basement, page 113
  5. Merdor, Monaya M. (1982). "Science Corps (Hemed)". IDF in Its Corps: Army and Security Encyclopedia (in Hebrew). Volume 17. Revivim Publishing. pp. 17–19.
  6. "Amos Horev". MIT Enterprise Forum. January 1, 2001. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  7. "Rafael Operating as Gov't Company Since January 1 - Preparatory to Becoming Limited Company". Globes. May 1, 1997.
  8. "Rafael 2003 net profit: $37m". Globes. March 17, 2004.
  9. Azulai, Yuval (March 20, 2017). "Rafael reports higher profit for 2016". Globes.
  10. John Pike. "Shafrir". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  11. "Defense Update issue 2-07 (May - June 2007) : Electro-Optically Guided Weapons". Defense-Update.Com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  12. Popeye Turbo - Israel Special Weapons. Fas.org. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.
  13. Anshel Pfeffer; Yanir Yagna (7 April 2011). "Iron Dome successfully intercepts Gaza rocket for first time". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  14. HARTMAN, BEN. "Anti-tank missile system stops attack on IDF tank". News Article. Jerusalem Post.
  15. "Protector". Defence Updates. Archived from the original on 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  16. "RDC Rafael Development Corporation Ltd.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  17. Invest in Israel: Given Imaging Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Fairchild launches Oramir Israel Business Today
  19. "SEC Info - Applied Materials Inc/DE - '10-Q' for 7/29/01". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  20. "List of Public Companies Worldwide, Letter - Businessweek - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  21. "Elron sells entire Galil Medical stake". Globes. 15 March 2010.
  22. Shelah, Shmulik (2009-06-22). "Microsoft confirms 3DV acquisition". Globes. Tel Aviv: Globes Publisher Itonut. Archived from the original on 2009-06-26. 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." Alt URL
  23. "Roche Acquires Insulin Pump Company Medingo". Diabetes Daily. 14 April 2010.
  24. Hughes, Robin (20 February 2019). "Rafael unveils Rocks air-to-surface missile". Jane's 360. London. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  25. Ahronheim, Anna (20 February 2019). "Israel unveils Rafael's new advanced bunker buster missile, 'Rocks'". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  26. Zitun , Yoav (March 6, 2018). "'Sharp Flame': Rafael's new rocket precision guidance system". Ynetnews. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  • The bomb in the basement, Michael Karpin, Ed Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6595-9

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