Israeli manufacturers continue to use Israel's growing military relationship with Turkey to pursue requirements from Ankara.
Rafael hopes Turkey could be a potential launch customer for the Guitar passive missile warning system. Israel's two leading unmanned air vehicle (UAV) manufacturers are mounting a joint bid for a $350 million Turkish programme.
Turkey's air force and army have requirements for passive missile detection systems. Rafael is developing two versions of the Guitar, the 300 for helicopters and the 350 for fixed wing aircraft.
The Guitar has six imaging staring electro-optical sensors that give 360° coverage in azimuth and 120° in elevation. Rafael sources say the spectrum detected by the system's sensors assures a low false alarm rate as well as fast and accurate detection of a threat's approach vector and speed.
Rapid detection speed is a critical criterion to allow the timely use of countermeasures such as lasers, high irradiance arc-lamps or flares, for infrared guided missiles and chaff or jamming against radar guided missiles. The sources say the Guitar gives a warning of 4-6s before impact and can detect surface-to-air and air-air missiles.
Meanwhile, Israel Aircraft Industries' Malat division and Silver Arrow are to bid jointly for the Turkish UAV competition after pressure from the Israeli defence ministry to merge their efforts. Malat is offering its 12h-endurance Searcher. Silver Arrow is proposing its Hermes 1500.
Source: Flight International
