Israel Matzav

NBC: We get results

Last night, I reported on an NBC investigative report on the US Army's refusal to purchase the Israeli-made Trophy anti-missile system for American tanks. Tonight, the Jerusalem Post is reporting that may all be about to change:

In addition, Rafael is currently hoping to gain from a Senate decision ordering US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to bring outside experts to assess the need for and use of tank defense systems for the US Army. The order from the Senate came following an NBC in-depth investigation into why the US Army had decided to purchase Raytheon's active protection system, which would only be ready in five years while the Trophy was already operational and ready to be purchased.

NBC claimed that there was too close an alliance between the US Army and Raytheon and that Raytheon staff were members of an Army team that had rejected the Trophy.

Rafael's Business Development Manager Didi Benyoash said Thursday that the Israeli defense company was conducting "advanced negotiations" with the Pentagon over the purchase of several models of the system to be used in trials on armored vehicles operating in Iraq.

"We will be ready to supply the system in a number of months if we receive orders to from Israel or the US Army," Benyoash said. In March, Rafael conducted a successful experiment of the Trophy for the US Army in Israel. "The war in Lebanon proved that active-protection systems are the only real way today to protect tanks," he added.

While Rafael was hoping to gain from the Senate's decision, Benyoash claimed that the Israeli defense company had "absolutely nothing" to do with the NBC report that exposed the close and possibly illegitimate relationship between Raytheon and the US Army.

This should also answer those who claim that the US does not gain enough from its strategic relationship with Israel, a claim that was heard a lot towards the end of the war in Lebanon.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:18 AM