AUSA 2014
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עברית (Hebrew)
AUSA 2014 is currently being held in Washington until October 15. Having begun yesterday, October 13, the annual meeting and exposition, complete with lectures by senior figures, is exclusive to professionals.
This is the biggest annual ground defense event of its kind in the US, and the most prestigious and important event for the US Army, but it is also known for its impact on the Marines, Special Forces, the National Guard and all its various derivatives, Canada and of course the American defense industries.
Last year’s event comprised 565 exhibitors over display and presentation grounds totaling 311,111 square feet, with 8,333 participating companies. The event attracted 28,349 visitors, nearly one third of whom service men and women and 11% coming from abroad.
For the current AUSA 2014, SIBAT has launched a national booth, representing Israeli companies of all sizes. The booth will showcase, inter alia, innovative solutions for asymmetrical warfare, first deployed by IDF forces during Operation Protective Shield. Also, advanced solutions for reducing damage to uninvolved populations in urban warfare will be unveiled for the first time.
The Israeli booth, organized and run by SIBAT, will feature, for the first time in public, a range of new technologies, jointly developed by MAFAT (the MOD’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure) and the IDF, some of which have already taken part in Operation Protective Shield. Among the innovations: reconnaissance solutions for real time accurate intelligence, assorted gears and payloads for UAVs and robotics systems capable of replacing soldiers in hazardous environments.
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Mishel Ben Baruch Director of SIBAT: “asymmetric warfare, akin to what the IDF was recently engaged in during Operation Protective Shield, compelled Israel’s defense community to develop unique technologies to minimize as much as possible the damage to uninvolved persons, and at the same time track threats quickly, and in a highly complex and dense warzone – succeed in using accurate fire to neutralize said threat. Israel’s defense industry is quick to respond to changes on the battlefield, to the IDF’s urgent demands and developing requirements, and to those of other defense forces worldwide.”
The Israeli booth will feature 9 advanced defense companies: MTC, RADA, RT, TAR IDEAL, Verint, Beth El Industries, FLYING PRODUCTION, VIDEO INFORM, and Roboteam.
Among the innovations the Israeli booth will feature: mortar shell guidance system, rendering each shell an accurate, smart bomb, thereby preventing collateral damage, and a flash light for fighters’ helmets to prevent friendly fire. This system, which consists of 32 different lighting settings and visibility ranges, was deployed successfully in test mode during Operation Protective Shield. A new Israeli start-up company will unveil a unique software which rapidly and automatically traces objects in aerial images.
