Israel's missile makers move toward U.S. production deals: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, one of Israel's leading defense companies, and the Raytheon Co., based in the United States, are reported to be seeking to integrate the jointly funded Israeli-made Stunner air-defense interceptor missile into an advanced version of the U.S. Patriot system.
The moves comes amid growing U.S. interest in co-production deals on air-defense systems that are being produced or developed by state-owned Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries to protect the Jewish state from threatened missile bombardment by Iran and other regional foes.
Despite Israeli misgivings, this and other co-production arrangements involving defense systems could materialize, in large part for economic reasons, given current defense spending cuts.
