Israel Aerospace
Industries is expanding its activities in Brazil through the partnership with
local, strategic defense partners.
By Jewish Voice
“IAI sees South America in general, and
Brazil in particular, as a ‘growth engine’, and offers a large spectrum of
products, backed by wide technological knowhow.” Joseph Weiss, IAI’s President
and CEO said “Through working in Brazil extensively for the last few years, we
have been exposed to the country’s unique needs and requirements. IAI plans to
expand its activities in Brazil by means of cooperation with local companies.
Radar that sees beyond the horizon
Through its
partnership with Iacit IAI is promoting comprehensive naval and homeland
security capabilities, applicable to Blue Amazon Managing System (SisGAAz). One
of these systems is the EZ-Guard ELM2270 Over the Horizon (OTH) radar project
that broke ground last month at a coastal site in the South of Brazil. Backed
up by transfer of technological knowhow from IAI-ELTA, the project is being
conducted with the support of the Brazilian Navy
These advanced
maritime surveillance features are combined with IACIT’s oceanic environmental
HF capacities. IACIT has been developing an HF Radar solution since 2010 for
oceanic environmental weather and sea surface surveillance, as well as
pollution control and to assist prediction of environmental hazards such as
storms and tsunamis.
The radar system is
developed with the support of the Brazilian Federal Funding Authority for
Studies and Projects (FINEP) and with the technological cooperation of IAI’s
ELTA Group.
Operating in the
High-Frequency (HF) band the new radar employs surface-wave propagation to
provide continuous surveillance of the sea surface well beyond the horizon, up
to 200 nautical miles (370km) range. The radar employs phased array technology
and unique interference cancellation techniques which provide reliable and
persistent coverage of the broader maritime area at all times, regardless of
atmospheric conditions or sea state.
“The technological
development process requires time and considerable financial resources,
depending on the complexity of the project. The expected assimilation of
technology, including by the National Defense Strategic (END), provides a
significant leap for technologies already tested outside Brazil with validated
solutions. In the case of a Strategic Defense Company (EED) such as IACIT,
transfer of technology and know-how are mandatory to ensure continuous production
in Brazil. said IACIT president Luiz Teixeira. “The OTH development has
propelled IACIT’s capabilities years forward and will provide a strategic
advantage for the Brazilian Navy as well as important lifesaving information
for environmental control agencies”.
“We view this
project as an important milestone towards persistent, affordable, reliable and
efficient coverage of a broad Brazilian maritime area”, said Mr. Nisim Hadas,
IAI Executive VP & ELTA president.
IAI’s Heron turned into Caçadors
Another UAV project
in Brazil is “Caçador”, an evolution of the IAI Heron I into a Brazilian-made
Medium Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) UAV. Heron I is operational in Brazil
since 2010, operated by the federal police. Caçador UAV is based on this
operational experience, to meet the specific requirements of Brazil.
Caçador will be
equipped with an automatic takeoff and landing system (ATOL) and equipped to
operate in civilian controlled airspace, as has already practiced with Heron I
in Brazil and elsewhere. Caçador will carry multiple payloads for line-of-sight
missions or beyond line of sight using satellite communications.
The manufacturing
will take place in Brazil. IAI has teamed with Avionics Services of Brazil
which is currently inducting the maintenance and support of the system at
Botucatu airfield in Sao Paolo. European Advanced Technology (EAT), an Israel
Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) subsidiary, has acquired minority holding in the
Avionics Services in 2014, as part of IAI’s strategic investment in the Brazilian
defense market. The cooperation agreement’s main target markets are defense and
public security projects primarily for the Brazilian market, which may
potentially be extended to international markets in the future. Under the
cooperation agreement between the two companies Avionics Services will provide
marketing and manufacturing of aircraft systems, unmanned aerial systems,
sensors supporting upgrades of aerial platforms.