Israel’s Aeronautics to supply Orbiter 3 drones to Greece

Israeli defense company Aeronautics, owned by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Stolero Aeron, agreed to supply Greece with Orbiter 3 unmanned aerial systems in a government-to government contract.

The deal is part of the sale of Rafael’s Spike missiles to the country in a package worth EUR 370 million ($404 million).

The Orbiter 3, which has a maximum take off weight of 32 kilograms (71 pounds) and can fly for as long as six hours, is suitable for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The agreement will see “dozens” of the drone supplied to the Greek Ministry of Defense, the company said in a statement.

The initial announcement of the Spike deal made no mention of the Orbiter 3 and Israel’s Ministry of Defense did not elaborate. The announcement came before Yom HaShaoh, the annual Holocaust memorial day, and officials were not available to comment.

Aeronautics noted that as part of the contract, “Rafael will provide an advanced solution enabling significant operational advantage to the modern battlefield; while the Orbiter 3 systems detect, recognize and identify (DRI) the target, the Spike missiles, launched from the air, sea, or land can rapidly close the sensor-to-shooter loop, using the Fire Weaver; C4I system.”

In the last year Rafael has presented this kind of fire control capability, which it calls “the NLOS Mission Taskforce (NMT)… a comprehensive, end-to-end operational solution providing small, mobile combat units of 4X4 or armored vehicles with organic detection, attack, and fire control capabilities.”

The company did not comment on how the Orbiter 3 integrates with this system, beyond the statement about the UAV detecting targets while Spike can be launched to close the sensor-to-shooter loop.

“This collaboration demonstrates the technological synergy, and the close business integration, between the two companies,” said Aeronautics CEO Dan Slasky in the statement.

The UAV is runway-independent and can carry various types of payloads, as well as navigating in GPS-denied environments and in harsh weather conditions. In 2019 Aeronautics said it would supply the Orbiter 3 to an unnamed country in Asia and it also won a contract to another unnamed client in South America.

Aeronautics was founded in 1997 and acquired by Rafael and Stolero Aeron in 2019 with state-owned Rafael taking a fifty percent stake.

Greece and Israel have increasing partnerships on defense issues in recent years, including numerous joint drills. In 2020 Greece announced a leasing arrangement for large Heron drones with Israel’s IAI and Israel’s Elbit Systems was contracted to build a flight training facility in the country.

Seth J. Frantzman is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has covered conflict in the Mideast since 2010 for different publications. He has experience covering the international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and he is a co-founder and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.

由 Rafael 先进防御系统公司和 Stolero Aeron 共同拥有的以色列国防公司 Aeronautics 同意通过政府间合同向希腊提供 Orbiter 3 无人机系统。

该交易是向该国出售拉斐尔公司“长钉”导弹的一部分，总价值为 3.7 亿欧元（4.04 亿美元）。

Orbiter 3无人机最大起飞重量为32公斤（71磅），续航时间长达6小时，适用于情报、监视和侦察任务。该公司在一份声明中表示，根据协议，将向希腊国防部提供“数十架”该型无人机。

最初宣布的Spike交易并未提及Orbiter 3，以色列国防部也未作详细说明。该消息发布于一年一度的大屠杀纪念日（Yom HaShaoh）之前，相关官员均未对此置评。

航空学指出，作为合同的一部分，“拉斐尔公司将提供一种先进的解决方案，为现代战场带来显著的作战优势；Orbiter 3 系统探测、识别和辨认 (DRI) 目标的同时，从空中、海上或陆地发射的 Spike 导弹可以使用 Fire Weaver C4I 系统快速闭合传感器到射手的回路。”

去年，拉斐尔公司展示了这种火力控制能力，并将其称为“NLOS任务特遣队（NMT）……一种全面的端到端作战解决方案，为小型、机动的4X4或装甲车辆作战单位提供自主探测、攻击和火力控制能力”。

除了声明无人机可以探测目标，同时发射 Spike 导弹以闭合传感器到发射器的回路之外，该公司没有对 Orbiter 3 如何与该系统集成发表评论。

“此次合作体现了两家公司在技术上的协同效应和紧密的业务整合，”航空技术公司首席执行官丹·斯拉斯基在声明中表示。

这款无人机无需跑道即可起降，可携带多种有效载荷，并能在无GPS环境和恶劣天气条件下导航。2019年，Aeronautics公司宣布将向亚洲某国（未透露名称）供应Orbiter 3无人机，并同时赢得了南美另一家未透露名称的客户的合同。

Aeronautics 公司成立于 1997 年，并于 2019 年被 Rafael 和 Stolero Aeron 收购，其中国有企业 Rafael 持有 50% 的股份。

近年来，希腊和以色列在国防领域的合作日益密切，包括多次联合演习。2020年，希腊宣布与以色列航空航天工业公司（IAI）达成大型“苍鹭”无人机租赁协议，并与以色列埃尔比特系统公司签订合同，在希腊境内建造一座飞行训练设施。

塞思·J·弗兰茨曼是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。自2010年以来，他一直为多家媒体报道中东冲突。他曾报道过打击伊拉克和叙利亚境内伊斯兰国组织的国际联盟行动，并且是中东报道与分析中心的联合创始人兼执行主任。