Naval Technology

Daily Newsletter

11 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

Rafael win Typhoon contract with unnamed Asian navy

Rafael will provide services for the Typhoon and Mini-Typhoon remotely controlled naval weapon stations for $30m.

Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd. has announced a new contract with an unnamed Asian country on 9 August, to provide comprehensive maintenance support services for operational systems used by its navy.

The multi-year agreement is worth around NIS100m ($30m) and will cover maintenance services for the navy's Typhoon and Mini-Typhoon remotely controlled naval weapon stations, Naval Spike ER and NLOS missile systems, EO surveillance systems, and EW Integrated Decoy Systems (IDS).

“This agreement is part of Rafael’s strategy to increase activity in the field of maintenance and customer support for its customers in Israel and globally,” said Ran Tavor, Vice President and Head of Rafael’s Naval Warfare Systems directorate. “Through this latest project the knowhow shared between RAFAEL and its partners will continue to be enriched and will contribute to more optimised and greater capabilities down the road.”

The Typhoon family of naval gun systems is a stabilised, remotely controlled, small calibre naval gun systems, notable for being dependable and cost-effective.

In March, Rafael won a major contract with the Philippine navy for Typhoon Mk30-c and mini-Typhoon RCWS, recently commissioned as part of a complete Rafael combat suite onboard FAIC-M / Shaldag MK5 vessels.

Spike ER and NLOS are electro-optically guided multipurpose missiles with pinpoint accuracy and midcourse navigation with ranges of up to 10 and 32 km at sea, respectively. Suitable for OPV and patrol boats, the addition of Rafael's recently unveiled 6th Generation Naval Spike NLOS missile improves combat effectiveness.

On 7 August, Poland's Ministry of defence announced the purchase of munitions worth $100m from Rafael's Spike family.

The IDS is a complete defence suite that includes a controller, launchers, and programmable decoys.

Rafael announced in March 2023 that it had signed a multi-year agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Defence to provide maintenance support services for the Israeli Navy's dozens of Typhoon remotely-controlled naval weapon stations.

Growing global demand for autonomous UMV capabilities

The proliferation of unmanned systems in the global defense market continues to have a growing impact on the future of naval warfare. Navies around the globe are increasingly investing in the development and integration of unmanned surface vehicles (USV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) to create ‘hybrid’ fleet structures in the interest of enhancing survivability, increasing efficiency, and reducing the long-term costs of naval operations. USVs are a new and fast-growing segment of the naval defense market, with steady investment and interest from around the globe due to the multitude of applications for this emerging technology. GlobalData forecasts expenditures in the global UUV market to rise from $379 million in 2023 to $965 million by 2033 as the market continues to surpass its previous records. Demand for military UUVs continues to be driven by the development of autonomous MCM capabilities and the implementation of hybridized fleet initiatives by several nations including China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US. However, the market for USVs continues to far outpace that of UUVs. Demand for military USVs is driven by many of the same factors as for UUVs, with autonomous MCM capabilities and hybrid fleet structures driving demand for USV platforms around the globe.