RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: “RADA”) is a Defense Electronics System House specializing in sophisticated, military-oriented electronic systems for airborne and land applications. RADA offers complete system solutions in addition to OEM subsystems and products, designed primarily for the aerospace and defense markets.

Website link: rada.com

RADA’s product lines include :

• Data Recording & Management
• Inertial Navigation Systems (INS)
• Avionic Solutions
• Radar Sensors for Force Protection Systems

RADA is a recognized world leader in the field of airborne video and data recordings. The company’s INS solutions, based on Fiber Optic Gyros (FOG) or Micro-Electro Mechanical Sensors (MEMS), are highly affordable and are suitable to a wide range of airborne and land military applications . RADA’s Radar technology provides compact and affordable sensors for APS and Perimeter Surveillance.

Based on its product range and extensive engineering experience, the company also offers complete system solutions, primarily in video and data recording and management systems, and avionic upgrade suits for military and aircraft and Mission (ISR) aircraft .

RADA’s customers include leading air forces the world over and prime integrators such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Electric, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Embraer, Israel Military Industry (IMI) and many others .

RADA was founded in 1970 and has been traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange since 1985. RADA’s Chairman and President is Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Herzle Bodinger, who served as the Israeli Air Force Commander prior to joining the company.

RADA is certified to ISO-9000: 2000, AS9100B, and ISO-14001 standards.

Data Recording and Management

Digital Video Recorders, Flight Data Recorders, HUD Video Cameras, and Post-Mission Ground Debriefing Solutions.

Inertial Navigation Systems (INS)

FOG-Based Navigation Grade EGI and IMU (the R-100F family), MEMS-Based INS and IMU compact solutions (the R-200M family), for airborne and land applications.

Avionics Solutions

Aircraft Avionics Upgrades, ISR Aircraft Upgrades, and a wide variety of Avionics Subsystems for manned and unmanned vehicles.

Radar Sensors for Force Protection Systems

Compact, lightweight – yet armored – pulse-Doppler Digital Radars, for Active Protection Systems (APS) for armored vehicles and tanks, and Perimeter Surveillance Radars (PSR) for stationary and HLS applications.

Defense Update posts about RADA:

• Eurosatory 2010 Report
• Rada Unveil the Sentinel radar for APS
• Digital Video Recorders Reach the Battlefield
• Generic Avionics Set Path for the Network Centric Israel Air Force
• Heron TP (Eitan) Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV
• Ground Debriefing System for Israel’s F-16I Soufa
• High Capacity Digital Video Recorder
• NGC, RADA Team to Offer a Tactical Rocket Laser Shield
• Israel Air Force to Deploy a New Video Recorder & Data Server from RADA

Mobius Protection Systems (PS), a designer, engineer and manufacturer of survivability products – from crash and blast protection in combat vehicles and aircraft to car safety products in vehicles. The company’s products implement innovative and unique, patent pending energy absorption techniques facilitating flexible and simple safety and survivability solutions assuring flawless performance under the most demanding conditions.

Company website: mobius-ps.com

The patent pending EA technology was developed by Mobius PS team of expert engineers, having the insight, knowledge and operational experience in designing and developing blast protected combat platforms and shock absorbing systems. Many of the company’s expert engineers are veterans of Israel’s Defense Forces Merkava tank program.

Mobius PS proven technology is based on a simple approach, utilizing a single, factory tunable element, manufactured to meet preset EA characteristics. The fixed Profile Energy Absorption element performs its mission with continuous self-adjusting dynamic attenuation, providing maximum protection to full range of occupants weights, from light 5th percentile female up to heavy 95th percentile male and beyond. This implementation provides a straightforward attachment of crew seats, passenger seats or benches, to the floor or to the walls, without the need for motion guides, rails or complex suspension and isolation techniques. Using light, strong seat frames and attachments the seats are validated to face multi-directional impacts, from blast or accident and crash scenarios. To restrain the occupants to their seats, 4-5 point safety belts, all-belts-to-seat, adjustable head-rest (available with side supports) are also provided.

Mobius PS offers its EA technology as off-the-shelf products, ready for integration in new vehicles, as add-on upgrade for legacy seats, as well as custom designed kits. The EA systems can be provided both with original seats as well as Add-On for legacy seats, meeting the most stringent requirements and minimum physical space claim available. Mobius PS also offers complete system integration for maximal protection and has been cooperating with a number of international companies in the field.

The unique EA technology developed by Mobius PS  is integrated in various blast protection mechanisms employed in modern military vehicles, designed to protect soldiers from mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). The technology developed by Mobius PS rapidly dissipates the energies experience by the vehicle in multi-hit scenarios. Unlike other EA techniques relying on complex assemblies, suspensions rigs or moving parts, susceptible to degradation by environmental conditions and corrosion, the AE developed by Mobius PS protects from IEDs mines without compromising on performance, safety, ergonomics and user comfort.

Mobius Protection Systems’ product lines includes the following systems:

• Floor and Wall Mounted Blast Protected Seats
• Confined Space Blast Protection Applications
• Energy Absorbing Mounts and Sockets
• Seat Accessories

Floor and Wall Mounted Blast Protected Seats.

Floor and Wall Mounted Blast Protected Seats

The floor-mounting Blast and Crash Protection Energy Absorbing mechanism can be implemented as a standalone system and can be incorporated with legacy seats. FMVSS certified, the seat is available in three different height configurations, with an adjustable or fixed frame, fore and aft adjustment and ergonomic foam structure. The seat retains four or five attachment points for safety belts. Wall mounted configurations also has Foldable pan and back for access to the wall. Back

These FMVSS certified seats are available in different height configuration as-well-as custom design for special requests. The seats are compatible with standard fore/aft adjustment slides. Mobius PS EA technology is also available with original GSS seat or as an Add-on system for legacy seats. Integral feet protection is also optional for floor mounted seats, where the EA element effectively keeps the occupant’s feet away from the floor during an explosion event. Back

Confined Space Blast Protection Applications from Mobius PS

Confined Space Blast Protection Applications

For applications where available space is limited, Mobius PS provides effective EA solutions employing compact wall-mounted front-facing EA and bench alternative blast protected seating system. The wall mounting assembly has Pan and back that fold flat against the wall, using a snap-lock to open into a seating position. The blast protected bench introduces a unique, light and survivable alternative to seat an entire squad. The bench comprises a series of sectioned personal EA seats grouped together into a single unit that Pan folds flat against the wall. In case of an explosion, each seat acts individually to provide maximum protection to each individual.

Mobius PS can also adapt the EA assembly to meet limited space requirement or upgrade existing attachments, such as implementing floor mounted devices over wall mounted brackets or Wall-mounted seats over floor-mounting brackets. In special circumstances where floor-mounted configuration cannot fit, Mobius PS provides a low profile EA assembly integrated with height adjuster, offering the crew uncompromised protection and ride comfort. Back

Energy Absorbing Mounts and Sockets

To prevent objects from tearing out of their mountings by the blast effect, thus becoming life threatening fragments, Mobius has developed energy absorbing mounts that replace standard mountings used for the attachment of internal equipment such as radios, ammunition boxes, batteries etc. Under all operating conditions these mounts perform as the original mount, but deform to absorb the blast forces when exposed to extreme accelerations. Back

Seat Accessories

The company also offers different accessories for the seats, including height adjusters, for/aft adjustment, special installation brackets, etc. Back

Kinetics Ltd. established in 1985, is a world leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of life support, auxiliary power, filtration and hydraulic systems for land systems and armored vehicles.

Kinetics develops, qualifies, produces and fields systems and components for a wide range of tracked, wheeled, stationary and airborne military platforms, including Main Battle Tanks (MBT), Self Propelled Howitzers (SPH), Armored / Infantry Fighting Vehicles (AFV / IFV), Armored Personnel Carriers (APC), Mines Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP), Tactical & Tactical Support Vehicles (TV / TSV), Utility & Utility Support Vehicles (UV / USV), Rocket Launchers, Shelters and Tents. Specific applications are also tailored for helicopters and aircraft.

Kinetics’ main product lines includes the following systems:

• Life Support Systems
• Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning
• NBC / CBRN Protection
• Auxiliary Power Units (APU)
• Hydraulic Systems & Components

The company has been the principal supplier of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) protection system and Individual Crew Cooling Systems (ICES) for Israel’s Merkava main battle tank, from the first model to the current Merkava Mk4 tank. The company has also developed and produces an integrated system, combining air conditioning, NBC protection and auxiliary power generation into an integrated Life Support System (LSS). The system combines the functions of NBC/CBRN protection and detection, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), providing individual crew and equipment cooling (ICECS), with automatic fire suppression (AFS). An evolution of Kinetics’ LSS also accommodates an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).

Tailoring each solution to meet the specific requirement of both the platform and customer, based on qualified and fielded solutions, Kinetics maintains the collective experience, technical skills and know-how necessary to introduce sophisticated, integrated systems, meeting the harsh operating environment and the toughest environmental conditions, military platforms are expected to meet in combat.

Website link: www.kinetics.co.il

Kinetics Fields of Activity:

Kinetics Life Support Systems (LSS)
These systems also comprise Environmental Control Systems (ECS) providing Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVA) for operations in conventional warfare. These systems fully support filtration of dust, smoke and potentially hazardous agents that could be encountered by the warfighter in asymmetric warfare. Back

Kinetics NBC / CBRN Protection (CBRN)
The company also produces collective NBC protection systems designed for NATO-AEP-54 standard. Such systems were developed and produced for the Piranha 3 and 4 vehicles, Pandur 2 and Armored Modular Vehicle (AMV) AIFVs, as well as in the NEMO self propelled mortar system. The system has also been integrated into the JLTV technology demonstrators
developed by Lockheed Martin. Back

Kinetics Auxiliary Power Units (APU)
Kinetics has developed and fielded a ange of APUs for external and internal installation on military vehicles. These APUs are provided as standalone systems or integrated with Kinetics’ Life Support Systems (LSS-APU), providing auxiliary power, NBC/CBRN Protection and Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning (HVAC). Back

APUs can be used to support the individual platform on a ‘silent watch’ with the engine shut down, keeping low noise and thermal signatures. To support the increased power demand for add-on high power electronic equipment, the APU can be used as a ‘co-generator’, operating in parallel with the platform main engine, while stationary or on the move. It can also be used to power off-board consumers. Back

Hydraulic Systems & Components
Other fields of activity at Kinetics include hydraulic systems and components, used in armored vehicles for various roles, such as transmission and braking and track tension mechanism.

Among the military hydraulic systems developed and produced by Kinetics are hydraulic elements for control systems supporting turrets, gun or missile launchers, and enhanced suspension systems for military vehicles. Such products are currently integrated in Merkava and M-1A2SEP main battle tanks, HIMARS mobile rocket system and the M-109A6 Paladin self-propelled gun. Back

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The US Army Communications & Electronics Command in Washington awarded Liteye Systems a contract valued up to $22.6 million, for the delivery of monocular displays for the LRAS3 target acquisition system. Deliveries will begin immediately and span over five years. The total quantity to be delivered has not been determined yet but could exceed 4,000 units.

The U.S. Army is fielding the new Monocular Display augmenting  the Long-Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3), multi-sensor target acquisition systems that detect, recognize, identify, and geo-locate targets at long distances. The monocular displays selected for the program were developed by Liteye Systems. The display consists of Liteye’s Military Off the Shelf  (MOTS) LE-600 miniature display, that can be used in helmet mounted or hand held viewer modes of operation. The handheld system comprises a high-resolution OLED microdisplay, energy efficient electronics and optics, all packaged in a compact form factor, built to meet military-standard.

The LRAS3 is deployed with scout platoons at infantry and armor the battalions, providing the scouts autonomous, long range, line-of-sight reconnaissance and surveillance capability. The system automatically determines Far Target Location (FTL) coordinates for any target ranged to by the operator. The system is currently mounted on US High-Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) and the Stryker Armored vehicles, M707 Knight, and M1200 Armored Knight Support Vehicle. The system can also be dismounted, using a tripod and battery pack.

The Army evaluated different alternatives for the display, and determined that the a small monocular viewer is preferred, because of its small package and flexibility while maintaining high performance required to accurately display the LRAS3 video. The new display will greatly reduce the weight of the dismounted package, enabling systems operators to maintain good orientation and situational awareness, while operating the system on or off the vehicle.

Related links:

Military Applications Using OLED Microdisplays

It’s tempting to look at the Army’s cancellation of the solicitation for a next-generation troop carrier and conclude that the service has lost its way in figuring out how to meet future combat needs. After all, this is the same service that spent a decade developing a successor to its Kiowa armed reconnaissance helicopter, killed it, and then killed the successor to the successor two years later. End result: Kiowa keeps flying for the foreseeable future. It is also the same service that spent $18 billion developing a net-centric family of future fighting vehicles — the “future combat system” — and then couldn’t convince defense secretary Robert Gates the program made sense. Such episodes don’t inspire confidence.


But most of what has gone wrong with Army modernization plans during the first decade of the new millennium can be traced to the fact that senior policymakers were pushing a concept of future warfare bearing little resemblance to the combat operations soldiers were actually conducting. When your civilian superiors are enchanted with capability-based, network-centric, transformational warfighting concepts but your force is straining to meet the challenge posed by lightly armed and elusive insurgents, it’s pretty hard to come up with a modernization plan that everybody likes. Secretary Gates changed all that by telling Army leaders to forget the fancy theories and focus on winning today’s fight.

So the Army’s revised plan for modernizing its armored vehicles is more practical than visionary, a focused effort to reconcile what is needed with what is affordable. The only new system in the plan is a “ground combat vehicle” that can be fielded in a few years while correcting deficiencies of existing vehicles noted in overseas conflicts. The reason the service pulled back its request for proposals last month was because it feared contractors had been asked to include too many features — a problem that could delay fielding while raising costs. The service is taking two more months to scrub its requirements before going forward. The other parts of the plan are mainly about upgrading existing vehicles to provide greater protection, mobility, awareness and firepower to soldiers as they deal with diverse adversaries employing unconventional tactics.

The basic building block of today’s Army is the brigade combat team, which comes in three flavors: heavy units dominated by Abrams tanks and Bradley troop carriers that provide maximum protection but are difficult to deploy quickly; infantry units that are easier to deploy but more lightly protected; and Stryker units organized around a wheeled (as opposed to tracked) combat vehicle that are more deployable than heavy units but more protected than infantry units. Current brigade combat teams thus offer an adaptable mix of protection and mobility that is tailorable to the character of whatever contingencies arise. That is the logical way to organize ground formations in an era of diverse threats.

The problem with the existing armored vehicle fleet is that it wasn’t designed to cope with improvised explosive devices. Efforts to adapt the fleet to the new style of warfare have used up all the space, weight, power and cooling capacity of the vehicles, leaving little margin for further improvement. The revised vehicle plan seeks to “buy back” that margin by upgrading Stryker, Abrams and Bradley while replacing much older M113 troop carriers. The new ground combat vehicle will replace one type of Bradley troop carrier so that a full squad of nine soldiers can ride inside with improved protection and awareness. It’s a reasonable plan, but given past mis-steps, the Army needs to keep its existing vehicles up to date as a hedge against future failures in fielding better equipment.

This analysis originally published by Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D. Lexington Institute

Thales Australia is supplying the Australian Defence Materiel Organization (DMO) over 35,000 Bullet Trap Blank Firing Attachments (BTBFAs) designed for the Australian assault rifle Austeyr F88. The BTBFA is a patented technology registered by Thales Australia. The bullet trap is attached to the end of the rifle barrel and enables the weapon to function when firing blank ammunition. If a live round is inadvertently fired, the bullet is retained within the BTBFA, preventing injury to bystanders or the soldier firing the weapon. It is colored red to enable easy identification of their use during exercises. It will be used on training ranges.

BTBFAs weighs about half the weight of the current in-service bayonet, and are optimized for the new Thales F3A1 blank round. A major advantage over conventional Blank Firing Attachment (BFA) is that the BTBFA is designed to actually stops an accidental firing of a live round, before it leaves the barrel, compared to conventional BFA which provides the back pressure to enable blank firing. According to Thales, BTBFA can stop a live round travelling at 800 m/sec down the barrel, in the space of 6cm. Thales Australia has also designed BTBFAs for use with other in-service weapons.

Sure Fire, LLC was awarded a $16 million contract by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, for the delivery of Visible Bright Light Heavy (VBL-H) fire control device for the M2HB .50 caliber heavy machine gun. This application augments the capabilities of heavy crew served weapons in low-light or low observation situations. The device provides visible target designation to assist the gunners in target detection, recognition, and identification within the effective range of the M2HB heavy machine gun.

The VBL-H employs a LED light flashing at a high rate – strobe of up to 30 flashes per second, producing a high

intensity white light or infrared beam with low power consumption. The effective range is one kilometer. Beam angle can also be tuned from a 1° spot to 20°.

VBL-H is part of a day/night target acquisition and fire control solution for crew served weapons, known as MDNS-CSW. An Operator equipped with the MDNS-CSW system is able to recognize, engage, and defeat enemy personnel and targets during close-in or extended range combat in open terrain or urban area. The system comprises a day and night sights, the VBL-H illumination device, and high-power laser aiming light.

Fire control solutions are provided by the ballistic processor module that interfaces with all sights to provide targeting data and aiming corrections. The weapon employing the MDNS-CSW can be operated manually from a remote control unit configured with two-grip handler. MDNS-CSW is designed to match four typical crew-served weapons employed by the U.S. Special Forces, including the M2HB, .50 Cal heavy machine gun, the MK44 Minigun, M240 series 7.62mm medium machine guns and Series MK-19 and MK-47 automatic grenade launcher.

In April 2010 the U.S. subsidiary of the Australian company Metal Storm has won a $1.48 development contract, awarded by the U.S. Marine Corps, for the development and demonstration of Mission Payload Module for the Non Lethal Weapon System (MPM-NLWS). The system is based on Metal Storm’s FireStorm weapon system.


This weapon addresses the corps’ requirement for an effective crowd control weapon, enabling a single HMMWV to cover a wide area. The system and payload should be effective at distances of 30-150 meters, disperse over 25 m2 or more within 4-8 seconds and incapacitate 75% of personnel within this target area for a minimum duration of 20 seconds or up to five minutes. The Marines intend to buy an initial batch of 312 MPM-NLWS in the first acquisition spiral. For this contract we lead a team including BAE Systems.

Originally, FireStorm was designed as a four barrel, 24 shot automatic grenade launcher, based on the EOS multi-purpose remotely controlled weapon station. The Marines will be able to tailor the system to their requirements, stacking 10, 15, or even 30 barrels on each platform, depending on specific requirements. For the demonstration testing the NLWS will be attached to the overhead gun shield also known as the Marine Corps Transparent Armored Gun Shield  or MCTAGS. The FireStorm can fire both lethal and non-lethal munitions. For the non lethal munitions, different munitions could be used to deliver a wide range of effects, with frangible impact node, irritant, cargo rounds and advanced airburst flash-bang projectiles. The same system can also fire lethal grenades as well.

In April 2010 General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) has won a $3 million contract for a technology demonstration (TD) and evaluation of its competing MPM-NLWS candidate system known as ‘Medusa’, developed in cooperation with ATK Aerospace Systems.


The GD-OTS ATK team plans to modify the advanced 66mm grenade and launcher technology to provide improved counter-personnel and non-lethal capabilities that temporarily incapacitate targets through intense light, sound and pressure stimuli.

The Medusa uses an articulated launcher and fire control system, firing non-lethal grenade munitions with electronic, in-tube, range-programmable fuzing that provides precision placement of the non-lethal effect. In addition to the new MPM, the launcher will retain its capability to deploy the current inventory of 66mm non-lethal and obscuration-effect.