After decades of US military aid and defense cooperation, the
US military is permeated by technology developed in Israel --
from the Army's Hunter drones to the targeting systems on the
US Marines' Harrier jets to the fuel tanks on its F-15
fighters.
With American missiles wrecking buildings in Baghdad, it is
likely that Iraq will dig out many more Israeli parts from
the debris. Israel last year was the world's No. 3 arms and
military services exporter -- ahead of Russia according to
Jane's Defense Weekly.
A B-52 bomber could fire Popeye air-to-surface missiles --
dubbed AGM-142 by the US Air Force -- at ground targets. The
precision-guided Popeyes were designed by Rafael, a company
partially owned by the Israeli government.
Israeli-designed Hunter unmanned aerial vehicles are in the
service of the US Army, and its cousin, the Pioneer, is being
used by the US Marines to scout Iraqi defenses. Both
originated in the design labs of Israel Aircraft Industries,
the country's largest private company.
Some of the Army's Bradley fighting vehicles are guided by on-
board computers supplied by a subsidiary of Israel's Elbit
Systems, Shapir said. US troops riding in the Bradleys might
also be protected by armor from Rafael.
Rafael is also the designer of the Litening Targeting Pods
used to fire precision weapons from the marines' AV-8B
Harrier jet, as well as F-15s and F-16s flown by the Air
Force Reserves and Army National Guard.
Much of the equipment is manufacturered in the United States
by subsidiaries of Israeli companies, or through joint
ventures with US weapons manufacturers.
According to Jane's, Israel made more than $3.5
billion in arms sales last year. Only the United States and
Britain sold more. Other sources don't factor in Israel's
exports of services -- such as upgrades to tanks and fighter
aircraft -- and rank Israel as a smaller exporter. London's
International Institute for Strategic Studies called Israel
the world's No. 5 arms exporter last year.
IAI is cooperating in the development of a credit-card sized
drone designed to transmit real-time battlefield images. The
lightweight drone is to be fitted with sensitive, lightweight
cameras that will transmit the images to highly mobile palm-
sized computers. The drone was one of several space-age
inventions and designs unveiled in late February at IAI's 50-
year celebration.
