A source with knowledge of the situation has reported to” Globes” that the Ministry of Defense’s department of defense research and development ( DDR&, D) is working on a sensitive worth hundreds of millions of pounds to get issued in the upcoming week for the procurement of 20, 000 robots that are manufactured in , Israel. In some deliveries over the course of five years, the winning companies will offer drones of several types, including abuse drones and monitoring and intelligence drones. Quotes are that a range of Jewish organizations will pay in the sweet including Dronix, Xtend, Robotican, Tehiru, Heven Drones and CopterPix.
The sweet may indicate a change in strategy by the IDF, which in recent months has preferred the Foreign aircraft industry over , Israel ‘s , aircraft manufacturers. The IDF has purchased thousands of Chinese drones manufactured by DJI and Autel, two businesses that have been placed on the blacklist by the US Department of Defense, according to” Globes.”
Due to the IDF’s lack of preparation for this and the immediate need to use drones in industrial warfare as part of the war in , Gaza, the order was placed. Drones donated to the Army, which have been used extensively, are also manufactured by the same Taiwanese companies.
Dependence on Chinese robots is a double-edged weapon for the , Ministry of Defense. It has made it possible to purchase inexpensive, fast products right away. However, it also leaves thousands of drones manufactured by Chinese government-owned businesses in the IDF, which, according to the US, may threaten national security. In addition, this strengthens , Israel ‘s , dependent on Chinese manufactured procurement and spare parts, which could be dangerous in the event that , China, which sees itself as an alliance of , Iran,  , Russia,  , Qatar , and , Hamas, decides to sanctions on selling products to , Israel.
However, the Chinese robots, which are considered an off-the-shelf solution that is also sold in the human industry, have difficulty operating on , Israel ‘s , north before.  , Hezbollah , has a program called Aeroscope for identifying Chinese robots and locating their users. So, the IDF understands the need not to become dependent on foreign drones, and the importance of supporting the long-term capacity of Israeli economy to provide the strategic benefit of local production of the drones, which are changing the face of the battlefield, as is happening in , Ukraine, for example.
The gap between supply and demand
Israel’s aircraft industry is still awaiting requests for tens of thousands of products, which is one of the reasons the Army has recently turned to China, which has the highest quality cameras and a little learning curve for soldiers being trained to use them, some of whom are now comfortable with them from the human market.
Local businesses have been required to build production lines and train enough assembly workers with the necessary expertise and knowledge to advance Israeli industry. Consequently, it is believed that when the tender is published, supply of the drones will be in the medium to long term rather immediate delivery. By then, businesses hope to establish production lines and perhaps even cutting-edge production facilities that can produce more drones.
Due to low price requirements and the high costs of raw materials and components, not all drones that are currently in the possession of Israeli companies can meet the requirements of the army. As far as is known, the price that the IDF will demand is still subject to change, but it is in the range of NIS 10, 000-20, 000 per drone, with the lower threshold being too low from many companies ‘ point of view. Israeli companies will be required to assemble the drones with the components that will be sought in the military tender, with the cost of some of these components, like a thermal sensor, averaging thousands of dollars per unit.
The low price levels required by the IDF reduces the likelihood that drones manufactured by , Israel ‘s , defense technology giants such as , Elbit Systems , and Rafael will enter the tender. Rafael’s Spike Firefly drone — a 2 kilogram assault drone that remains in the air for about 15 minutes with a range of up to a kilometer, costs far above the IDF’s price threshold. Elbit’s Thor drone is even more expensive. Israeli companies face a significant challenge in the field of surveillance drones because the price difference between Chinese and Israeli drones is particularly high when compared to assault drones.
The Israeli companies
One of the Israeli businesses that is expected to submit a bid for the Israeli military’s drone tender is Xtend, based in Ramat Hahayal in Tel Aviv, which has already provided services to the IDF as well as to civilian installations like offshore gas rigs. The company produces drones that are relatively cheap like the Wolverine, a multi-mission UAS on which the IDF can install thermal cameras, weapons, loudspeakers or arms for opening doors. Robotican, a company that produces the flying drone known as the Goshawk, which can turn into a mini-motorized vehicle capable of carrying out a range of intelligence and assault missions, is another Israeli company that submitted a bid for the tender.
Other businesses that are likely to submit bids for the IDF tender include Tehiru, a company that makes drones with encrypted communications that evade the enemy’s electronic combat system, Dronix, which manufactures the DR multi-mission series drones, the Urban drone, which can fly for 37 minutes and carry up to 10 kilograms, and CopterPIX, which sells a number of drones under the ERE brand.
No response from the IDF Spokesperson has been forthcoming.
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( c ) 2024 the Globes
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
