Israeli firms want a piece of the US cruise missile market

JERUSALEM — Two Israeli companies announced last weekend the establishment of defense factories in the United States that are planned to produce jet and rocket engines for the U.S. military market.

The first to announce the move was Israeli public company Bet Shemesh Engines, which specializes in the production of jet engines and their components for the civilian market.

The firm is joining up with German company JetCat, which is already active in the military market.

The joint plant will develop and produce small jet and rocket engines with “the goal to penetrate the U.S. military market in order to supply jet engines for small airborne platforms,” the Israeli company said.

Bet Shemesh Engines and its German partner will also establish another subsidiary that will develop similar products for the Israeli defense market.

The Israeli government company Rafael, meanwhile, announced a few hours later the establishment of a plant for solid-fuel rocket engines, which it will build in partnership with Kratos for $175 million.

The plant is set to be headquartered on an approximate 500 acre site near U.S. Navy and Army facilities in Crane, Indiana, under the name Prometheus Energetics.

Rafael is already known to the U.S. military and specializes in missiles. Some of Iron Dome and David’s Sling capabilities, for example, come from their solid-fuel engines.

The jet and rocket engines from Rafael and Bet Shemesh are supposed to meet mainly a requirement for cruise missiles at a time when the U.S. Department of Defense is working to encourage competition in order to lower prices of military procurement.

Bet Shemesh Engines and Rafael declined to elaborate on their plans.

Correction: This article was updated on March 5 to correct a translation error in a statement by Bet Shemesh Engines about the scope of their product lineup.

Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.

耶路撒冷——上周末，两家以色列公司宣布将在美国建立国防工厂，计划为美国军方市场生产喷气式和火箭发动机。

率先宣布这一举措的是以色列上市公司 Bet Shemesh Engines，该公司专门为民用市场生产喷气发动机及其零部件。

该公司将与德国公司 JetCat 合作，后者已活跃于军工市场。

这家以色列公司表示，合资工厂将研发和生产小型喷气式和火箭发动机，“目标是打入美国军方市场，为小型空中平台提供喷气式发动机”。

Bet Shemesh Engines及其德国合作伙伴还将成立另一家子公司，为以色列国防市场开发类似产品。

与此同时，以色列政府企业拉斐尔公司几个小时后宣布，将与克拉托斯公司合作，斥资 1.75 亿美元建立一座固体燃料火箭发动机工厂。

该工厂总部将设在印第安纳州克莱恩市，占地约 500 英亩，靠近美国海军和陆军设施，工厂名称为 Prometheus Energetics。

拉斐尔公司早已为美国军方所熟知，并且专长于导弹研发。例如，“铁穹”和“大卫投石器”系统的部分性能就源自其固体燃料发动机。

拉斐尔和贝特谢梅什公司生产的喷气式和火箭发动机主要是为了满足巡航导弹的需求，而此时美国国防部正在努力鼓励竞争，以降低军事采购的价格。

Bet Shemesh Engines 和 Rafael 拒绝详细说明他们的计划。

更正：本文已于 3 月 5 日更新，以更正 Bet Shemesh Engines 关于其产品线范围的声明中的翻译错误。

扎利·格林伯格是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。他拥有丰富的经济事务以及国防和网络安全公司报道经验。