EUA e Israel tienen una tradici\u00f3n de estrecha colaboraci\u00f3n en el \u00e1rea de sistemas de Defensa A\u00e9rea como los reconocidos Iron Dome, Arrow y David Sling. Siguiendo esa l\u00ednea de cooperaci\u00f3n, ambos pa\u00edses avanzan en la integraci\u00f3n de sus empresas tecnol\u00f3gicas de defensa, en I&D en el \u00e1rea de Armas de Energ\u00eda Dirigida (DEW). Ambos consideran estas armas vitales para los futuros escenarios de conflicto, donde los misiles de altas prestaciones y los sistemas aut\u00f3nomos, representan las principales amenazas a enfrentar.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 Israel\u2019s Missile Defense Organization is looking to develop directed-energy capabilities<\/a>, and is in early talks with the Pentagon about collaborating on those efforts, according to agency director Moshe Patel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDirected energy<\/a> is something that we \u2014 I can tell you it\u2019s playing a major role for the future in Israel, [and in] the U.S. also. And we are looking for ways to do some more cooperation with the U.S. on that,\u201d Patel told Defense News during an Oct. 9 interview. \u201cWe need to overcome some classification issues, some policy issues, and hopefully we can enlarge those capabilities together as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The U.S. and Israel have a history of collaboration on missile defense programs. The two teamed to co-develop the Arrow and David\u2019s Sling<\/a> systems, and while the Iron Dome system<\/a> was developed by Israel, the U.S. government helped finance production. The Arrow is a collaboration between Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing; the latter two efforts are a collaboration between Israeli firm Rafael and American company Raytheon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Patel noted there is a 10-year agreement in place for collaboration between his office and the American Missile Defense Agency, focused on the three current programs, including hardware and software changes. But what may be most interesting going forward are what he described as \u201csome new initiatives, together with MDA, that may prove to be part of their interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Asked what those might look like, Patel said some of the work is classified and \u201cwe have just started the dialogue. But I think that you could imagine, you know, where the world is going to. And what is important. We have some ideas that we are sharing with MDA, you know, some of the technologies already are well developed and we just need to modify them so they will fit the future threats.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But, he acknowledged, directed energy seems an obvious area of collaboration, particularly given what he described as continued interest from members of Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is open for [the MDA]. Everything is open,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThere on the table some other topics that they might consider, and we will be more than happy to assist.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tom Karako, a missile defense expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that directed energy \u201chas to be part of the overall solution to countering the increasing number and types of air and missile threats.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBoth the U.S. and our allies will benefit from incorporating directed energy into composite air defense units, as well as for strike capability,\u201d he said. \u201cThere will need to be a mix of kinetic and non-kinetic, and different types of DE. The diversity and intensity of the threat demands it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Karako added that the 10-year agreement between the MDA and Israel could serve as a viable baseline for the two sides working together on the technology, saying it should be possible to shift some of the annual money toward directed-energy programs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another area for potential collaboration that Patel flagged is hypersonic missile defense. As both the U.S. and Israel are in the early stages<\/a> of developing that capability \u2014 the MDA in August hit pause<\/a> on a plan to develop a hypersonic interceptor \u2014 there would be clear advantages to partnering up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Patel said he is \u201csure\u201d there will be a future dialogue on hypersonic defense with the MDA, potentially including discussions about space-based assets<\/a> to deal with that threat. But he also indicated that while hypersonic weapons are all the rage as a talking point, the true threat is still a ways out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOK, we are hearing about the threat, but the threat is a little bit, you know \u2014 we have some time to develop our capabilities,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that can be solved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n